


Living on the Edge

by Traycer



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Het, Novella, Romance, Stranded, Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-01
Updated: 2011-09-30
Packaged: 2017-10-24 05:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 38,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/259400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Traycer/pseuds/Traycer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stranded in an off-world wilderness, Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter rely on their wits, skills and survival training to endure the hardships of their fate - made even more difficult when they are saddled with an orphaned baby. Determined to make it despite dangerous natives and an unexpected ally, they carved a home for themselves in the new world while fighting the forbidden attraction that developed between them.</p><p>A crash landing forced them to rely on each other. They hadn't counted on finding love along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is dedicated to the Sam/Jack shippers who asked for, but didn't get what they wanted in my story, "Tangled Alliances." I've wanted to write something like this for them ever since. I originally started this story for Day of Indulgence, then posted what I had written - the first 2,200 words - for the Day of Fic Amnesty (sponsored by the Day of Indulgence community), and when that didn't work, Het Big Bang came along and gave me the incentive to finish it.
> 
> I am extremely grateful to sgmajorshipper for the super OMG fantastic beta, and to meekosan for the absolutely gorgeous artwork created for this story.

The ship was going to crash. Sam Carter knew this, even anticipated it, but she never was one to go down without a fight. The tel'tak careened over the tree tops, straightened out, then took a nose dive toward the ground while Sam struggled with steering and Colonel Jeffrey Bolton pulled up on the control.

"Come on," she heard Colonel Jack O'Neill say urgently from behind her. Sam appreciated the encouraging tone in his voice, but she didn't dare turn to acknowledge it. Bolton finally gained some control, but the strange keening noise coming from the engines didn't bode well. Sam pushed another button in order to try to divert the power, and nearly growled in frustration when she realized she was too late.

"Hang on!" Bolton yelled. He tried one more time to get the control he so desperately needed, and failed.

Sam didn't bother to respond. Instead she turned her face away from the trees slapping against the window and put her hands up to protect her head. The ship landed with a loud bang, skidding several kilometers until finally stopping with a jarring thud. She slowly looked up, elated that she survived, but now worried if they really were in the clear. The sound of the ship's engines dying down to a slow drone didn't exactly build up any confidence in that train of thought. The chance of the engines catching fire was still a very real possibility.

"Everybody okay?" O'Neill asked.

"Yeah," Sam responded with a nod. She looked over to see him checking on Bolton, who seemed to be unconscious.

"Bolton," O'Neill said as his fingers searched for a pulse. Sam finally freed herself from the restraints and went over to check on him for herself, unwilling to believe she survived and he hadn't. "He's unconscious," O'Neill said, relief apparent in his voice. "Looks like he rammed into something though." He held out his hand to show Sam the blood, then turned back to do what he could for the man who was slumped over the console. "What went wrong, Carter?"

"I'm not sure sir." Sam said, as she looked out through the window. They were surrounded by trees, a forest of some kind. "The engines locked up for a second then the power surged, almost as if..." She shook her head. No way, she thought. "I'll have to do a complete diagnostic to know for sure. I'll help you with Colonel Bolton before I get started on it."

O'Neill nodded, clearly relieved that she wasn't going to go off on a more detailed description of the problem. She knew he hated when she spoke in technical terms, and she really did try to curb that tendency whenever possible. She helped O'Neill pull Bolton out of the chair, then ran to get the first aid kit while O'Neill dragged the man over to the cargo bay. Bolton was stretched out on a built in bench when Sam got back.

"He's a mess," O'Neill mumbled. He grabbed the kit from Sam and she moved around to get a better look. The Colonel was right. Blood seeped from a hole in Bolton's chest, while a bruise began to show up on one side of his face. She helped with staunching the blood as O'Neill dug out a makeshift bandage. They worked quietly and efficiently, knowing without being told that Bolton's wounds were first priority. Sam was determined he'd make it.

"That's all we can do for now," Sam said, when they tied off the last of the bandage. She looked up to see O'Neill nodding, and Sam grinned when she saw that he was checking his gun to make sure it was serviceable. She already knew what he was planning.

"I'm going to go out and check out the perimeter," he told her. "See what you can do to get this thing up and running again."

"Yes sir."

She watched him leave then went to check on Bolton one more time. He was still asleep, which didn't ease Sam's mind, but at least he was still alive. She grabbed her gun and went to see what she could do to coax the engines into working again.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
More trees, Jack thought as he traipsed through the woods that surrounded the tel'tak. This time, though, he was pleased. The trees hid the ship from anything that flew over it, which was an important aspect to their survival. Then again, a tracking device could still possibly detect it. Jack refused to think about that, figuring Carter would take care of the problem, or at least hoping she'd know how to take care of it. She always seemed to be way ahead of him in the technology department anyway.

The woods thinned out after a few kilometers, giving way to a river that flowed toward the west. Jack squinted as he faced the sun, noting that it would be dark soon. He wouldn't have much time to scout around if he didn't get moving.

He found what looked like an abandoned mine north of where they crashed, while the rest of the area was entirely covered in forest. There were also tracks on the ground, although he had yet to see any actual animals. He decided to make extra accommodations when he secured the immediate area around the tel'tak. Protecting themselves from wild animals or possible enemy attacks was his next priority. It never hurt to be careful.

He found Carter kneeling next to a panel aligned with crystals when he got back. She had surrounded herself with tools, a few boxes and spare crystals, and was totally immersed in the problem of getting the engines back online.

"Carter?"

She looked over at him, the frustrated expression on her face telling Jack everything he needed to know. They weren't going to be leaving any time soon.

"Not yet sir," she told him with a sigh. "I can't figure this out. These crystals are undamaged, from what I can see, but they're not emitting any kind of energy. Nothing." She gave him a disgusted look as she shook her head, then held out the crystal that she was holding in her hand. "And what's worse, I just pulled this one out of that panel."

"That's bad?" Jack had to ask.

"The equivalent of crossed wires, sir."

"Oh," Jack nodded sagely. "Bad." He gave her a sheepish grin then told her, "I knew that."

She didn't appear to believe him, but she knew what to say in response. "Yes sir." It was apparent that he wasn't helping and was possibly starting to get on her nerves, so he decided to go secure the area before it got dark.

"I'm going to check on Bolton then set up camp," he told her. She nodded vaguely, obviously intent on the problem again. Jack decided to give her the one thing he knew he could count on in order to help - his faith in her. "You WILL fix this, Carter."

She looked up at him in surprise. He could see the doubt in her eyes, but she nodded bravely. "I hope so, sir."

"You will, Carter. And when you do, I'll be the first one to say I told you so."

She grinned at that, which pleased Jack to no end. He liked it when she smiled at him like that. He turned to head out the door, knowing that she would do her best. They would be out of there in no time.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
Things seemed to be pretty hopeless for Sam. Even though she had extensive training on the intricate details of repairing alien ships, the dead crystals laid out so carefully before her might as well be an instruction booklet written in a foreign language. Someone had tampered with them, and Sam was at a complete loss as to how to fix it all.

Still, she spent several hours working on it, trying everything in the book, always hoping that she would be able to figure out the problem with each solution she came up with. She sat back after a few hours, stretching her arms up over her head. The answer had to be here somewhere.

"Hey," O'Neill said as he came into the room. "You hungry?" She shook her head dejectedly. Maybe if she tried diverting the power through the capacitor...

"Come on," he insisted. "Bolton's awake and you need a break."

It was the news that Colonel Bolton was conscious that prompted Sam to get up. She was a little ashamed that she forgot about him, a fact that she hoped he never found out about. He was a superior officer, after all.

"How is he?" she asked.

"Not good." He turned to look behind him, then back at her. "I think you'd better come and check him out. You're much better at this stuff than I am."

She nodded and followed him to the cargo bay, her only concern now was for Colonel Bolton. She knelt down next to him, reaching over to feel his forehead as she said, "Hi, sir. How are you feeling?"

"Like crap," Bolton responded with a groan. Sam smiled at the understatement. She had expected as much. Soldiers and pilots always displayed bravado no matter how much pain they were in.

"Just lie still," she said as she dug in the first aid kit O'Neill had brought over for her. "We have some aspirins in here, but if you need something stronger..."

"No!" Sam was surprised at the urgency in Bolton's voice. "That stuff makes me loopy. Aspirins will work just fine."

"It's not like you are in any condition to get up and do anything," O'Neill said sarcastically. Apparently he knew where Bolton was coming from as well. Bolton wanted to be awake and aware just in case.

"We've got things handled, sir," Sam said to appease his concerns. "You just need to rest."

Bolton nodded then took the pills Sam handed to him. She helped him take a drink, wiping up the water that dribbled down his chin, then sat with him when he settled back down. The wound in his chest worried her. It looked pretty deep and still oozing blood. She placed her hand over it, pressing down slightly to try to staunch the flow. Bolton moaned, his face turning almost gray as he tried to deal with the pain.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said, although she kept the pressure on the wound.

He nodded, but didn't say anything. He was gritting his teeth, she noticed, which caused her to feel worse about the whole thing. If only she had spent more time with him than with the crystals...

"He's going to make it," O'Neill said, as he sat down next to her. "You got that Bolton? You are not going to die on us."

Bolton grinned at the Colonel, a sign that he was still trying. "Is that an order, O'Neill?"

"Damn straight." This was said with a growl although Sam saw the slight smile he tried to hide. She and Bolton both knew that he was kidding, and she couldn't help but wonder at the man's optimism. He never let anything get him down.

"Well, for once, I'm going to listen to you," Bolton said, as he closed his eyes.

"Just stay here and rest," Sam told him. She eased up the pressure, relieved to see that the blood no longer seeped through. She cleaned up her mess, putting things back into the kit while O'Neill went outside. She followed him out once she was able and accepted the cup he held out to her.

Sam sat down and stared at the fire O'Neill had started, watching as the sparks crackled and danced among the flames. She was mesmerized by what she saw, but her mind was whirring with possibilities and scenarios that could help in fixing the engines. She thought about diverting the power from the life support systems, but worried that it wouldn't be enough to keep the engines going, let alone get the ship back in the air.

"What's the verdict?"

Sam jumped a little at the Colonel's question, but immediately went into a lengthy explanation of terms that were almost automatic to her. He stared at her as she talked, his expression bored and slightly irritated. She had forgotten that he hated it when she used scientific words.

"Sorry, sir. Basically the crystals were switched, whether by accident or sabotage, I don't know."

"Sabotage?"

The look of intrigue on his face gave her the incentive to voice her suspicions. Besides it might be good to talk it over with him to get his opinions.

"It can be easy to switch the crystals if you're not trained in the maintenance of tel'taks," she began as she turned her attention back to the fire. "But the only people who can get near the ships are official personnel, _highly_ trained personnel who wouldn't make a mistake like that." The flames flared as she tried to work out how to say this without actually accusing anyone. "The work is double and triple checked by at least three different people to make sure everything is working smoothly."

"Yet this time something went wrong," O'Neill said. She looked over at her commanding officer and nodded. He was angry now, glaring at the fire as Sam tried to think of something to give him some hope.

"I'll keep at it sir, but it's going to take some time."

"Bolton needs a doctor now Carter." He glared at her, although Sam knew it wasn't really directed at her. She nodded quietly as she realized he was right.

"I'll do what I can." She took a sip of her coffee, savoring the flavor. Maybe General Hammond will realize that something went wrong and send out a search party. Daniel and Teal'c would insist on it, she thought with a smile. If there was one thing she could count on...

"I'm going to take another look around," O'Neill said. "Stay with Bolton..." He stopped, seeming to realize something, then grinned at her. "Correction, _check_ on Bolton whenever you can." She smiled at his statement. He knew her better than anyone.

"Yes sir," she told him. "I'll stay with him as much as possible."

He nodded sagely at her then got up to move off into the woods. She watched him until he was beyond the trees on the other side of their campsite then turned to go check on Bolton again, taking her coffee with her.

Bolton had drifted off to sleep, so Sam set the cup down on a different ledge and headed back into the engine room. She hadn't tried the crystals from the heating and cooling systems yet.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack O'Neill made his way into the woods, walking carefully as he scouted out the immediate area beyond the clearing. He had no idea where they were, or what to expect in the environment they landed in, but he was determined to make sure they survived until the rescue ships arrived, or Carter fixed the ship, whichever came first. He was sure they would get out of this, he just didn't know when or how. In the meantime, their protection relied on their combined efforts, which was why he was out here setting up the perimeter. He knew from experience that aliens and predators would do whatever it took to get what they wanted. Jack was going to make sure they didn't get through.

He walked through the woods, his feet barely making a sound as he checked everything out. He wondered how long it would take for General Hammond to figure out something had gone wrong. They had been in communication with the SGC before they crashed landed, but even Jack knew that locating the ship based on a general assumption of where they last transmitted was like finding a needle in a haystack. Still, he had faith in Carter and her abilities to fix almost anything. It was a lot better than being stranded on a planet with only a buried Stargate and DHD.

He brought his thoughts back to his immediate concerns, getting the lay of the land and noting landmarks. Trees were plentiful, which meant they had fuel for fires to keep them warm if it came to that. And a lot of greenery meant a water source nearby, which was his current destination as he made his assessments.

He found the river less than a mile away. The water was clear, with the sun glinting off of the surface, and Jack could just picture himself with a fishing pole in his hand, whiling away the hours as Carter worked on fixing the engine.

If only, he thought with a sigh

He made another sweeping pass through the area then decided to head back to see if his help was needed. Anything was better than the thoughts of sabotage that moved in. Better to wait until he found out who was responsible before making plans on how to kill him, or her, as the case may be.

He got back to the ship to find Carter sitting with Bolton, a washrag in her hand, stroking his hair and forehead. At least Bolton was being taken care of, he thought, as he walked over and sat down next to his friend. The man was pale and Jack worried that maybe he was going to die, which was not something he really wanted to think about. Even though he and Bolton carried the same rank, Jack was still in charge of this mission and he hated when someone in his responsibility died.

"I'm worried about Colonel Bolton," Carter said, as she sponged his forehead with the rag. "He needs a doctor."

Jack nodded. That much was obvious. How to save the man was a whole different story.

"Did you find anything?" Carter asked.

"Trees and a river." He shrugged as he turned to look at her. "Not much else."

It was her turn to nod. They sat in silence while Jack worried about them all. They were stranded and things were looking pretty dire for them at the moment. A dead Tel'tak, a dying team member and a distinct feeling of doom hanging over the whole mess... Jack didn't know if he'd ever be able to keep up the pretense that everything was peachy.

"I checked the crystals stored in the reserves," Carter said. She didn't even look at Jack as she talked, a fact that worried him. The news must be pretty bad. "There are no replacements for the ones that blew." She was now looking down at her hands, while Jack felt like he had been kicked in the gut. His instincts had been right. Really bad news.

Still, he had to try. "What about using a different one?" He was not ready to admit defeat. There had to be something else.

But Carter shook her head as she turned to face him. "Crossed wires," was all she said.

Okay, he thought. "We can't just give up. What about…?"

"Oh, I'm not planning to give up," she said with a great deal of conviction. "I'll keep trying sir. I just... I wanted to make sure you understood that we won't be up and running _before you know it_." Her expression belied the sarcasm he thought he heard in her words and she gave him a small smile before saying, "I'm going to need some time."

Jack stared at her for a moment, wondering how long _"some time"_ was going to be. The defeat in her eyes seemed to indicate never, yet she did say she was going to keep trying,which told him there was some hope. If anybody could fix that thing, it was Carter.

"I'm more worried about Colonel Bolton though," Carter said again. Jack turned toward his friend on the makeshift bed and found that he had to agree with Carter. Bolton's face was pale, almost gray and the bandage wrapped around his wound was stained with fresh blood. He looked back at Carter, suddenly understanding the defeat he saw in her eyes. She knew as well as he did that Bolton was dying.

Carter went back to wiping the rag across Bolton's forehead, while Jack struggled to find something to say. He finally decided on taking an officer's stance on the whole thing, knowing Carter would understand. "We'll concentrate on Bolton until..." He stopped that thought, then diverted to safer territory. "We have shelter and rations, and we're as secure as we're ever going to be in this place for now. Fixing those crystals can wait."

"Yes sir," she said with a nod. Jack got up and walked over to the door to look outside. The embers of the fire built earlier were glowing faintly in the darkening shadows of the woods, illuminating the immediate area with an eerie impression of gloom.

He vaguely wondered if this planet had a Stargate on it, though he supposed it really didn't matter when they had no idea where to start looking. Still, it would be worth asking Carter her thoughts on the subject.

Something howled in the distance as a breeze blew past, sending sparks from the fire upward. Jack watched with a growing sense of doom. Damn, he thought as he stared out at the alien landscape. He was stranded on yet another planet somewhere out in the cosmos with no way out. Why did this crap always seem to happen to him?

*~*~*~*~*~*  
Colonel Bolton died the next day. Sam was there when he drew his last breath, her heart breaking as she listened to O'Neill do his best to convince Bolton to hold on just a little longer. It had been a losing battle from the start, but even Sam harbored hope for some kind of a miracle.

There was a slight debate over burying the body or go the cold storage route, but they had no idea when they'd be rescued, or if Sam could even fix the tel'tak so it was a short debate. Sam grabbed a shovel and joined O'Neill as he rammed his own into the dirt.

"I can do this Carter," he said in a voice that suggested he was pissed about something. "Go fix the engines."

Sam stood for a moment, watching as her commanding officer pushed the blade of the shovel into the dirt again. He was definitely angry, but Sam needed this.

"I'd like to help sir," she told him. He looked up at her and glared, causing Sam to take a mental step back. She stared back at him, trying to come up with the best way to say it. She finally decided to just say it. "It's the least I can do for Colonel Bolton."

O'Neill grunted but didn't say anything else as he went back to shoveling more dirt. Sam took that as a positive and went to work helping him dig the grave for Bolton.

They worked in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. A cool breeze swept past as she thought about the things she could have done differently. She should have checked the crystals herself instead of relying on her people to get it right. The sounds of the shovels digging ever deeper filtered in through her mind as she remembered the details that splashed across the navigational panel just before the tel'tak crashed. More dirt flew from her shovel with each memory that was probed and analyzed in an effort to understand why she and O'Neill were left to dig that grave. She thrust the shovel in deeper trying to erase the guilt that built up within her, even as she tried to rationalize everything. Deeper and deeper, until Sam finally gave in to her despair and wiped her face to dry the sweat as well as the angry tears that came from nowhere.

"It's deep enough Carter," O'Neill said, his voice gruff.

She nodded and stood back, rage at the whole mess fueling her desire to keep going. She looked over at O'Neill instead, anger hanging thick in the air. He stood there with the shovel handle in one hand, the blade pushed deep into the ground, and stared back at her.

This was it. She nodded again and turned to lead the way toward Bolton's body.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
They settled into a routine in the days following Bolton's death. Jack spent hours securing their campsite, scouting the area and chopping wood on the off-chance rescue took longer than expected. Considering the fact that even Carter had no idea which planet they landed on, Jack figured they'd need a lot.

He dropped an armload of wood onto the pile he had been building next to the ship and leaned back to stretch the muscles in his back. If nothing else, this forced solitude was going to help him stay in shape, he thought with a wry grin at Carter who had come out of the ship at that moment.

She smiled back although she had a puzzled look on her face, obviously wondering what he was up to. Jack reached down to pick up and throw a stray log onto the pile, figuring to just let her wonder. It would do her good. Carter, on the other hand, didn't see it that way. She shrugged and went over to get some coffee.

Jack joined her after a moment. "How's it going with the engines?"

"I can't figure it out," she responded with a shake of her head. She stared at the trees with an expression of perplexed determination. "I tried replicating a few crystals that I thought might work, but there's something else going on... Something I'm missing." She sighed, turned to look at him and said, "I've tried everything Colonel. I just ran out of solutions."

Jack nodded, but found he couldn't get past the disappointment. Anger rose up as he stared at the fire. "Damn it," he said with a terse snarl. It just didn't seem fair that this stuff always seemed to happen to him.

"I'm sorry," Carter said.

"Not your fault." And it wasn't. He knew that. He was just pissed beyond belief that he was stranded again. Life seemed to want to kick him in the gut every time he turned around.

"That's not all," Carter said quietly.

Jack didn't say anything at first. He wasn't really sure he wanted to know. But Carter obviously didn't care what he wanted.

"The circuitry in the emergency beacon is fried."

Jack waited for her to tell him more. That she could somehow miraculously make everything all right. That she was just joking, anything to assure him that he was wrong in his assumptions. But she sat there instead and watched him with a wary expression.

He finally gave in with an amazed, "What?"

She didn't respond, which was fine by Jack. He was too busy feeling sorry for himself. "I don't believe this," he said as he stood up and started to pace. "I just don't freaking believe this." He stopped and glared at Carter as hope built up in him. "You can fix it right?" She shook her head and looked down at the ground. Jack just wanted to punch something. "What happened to it?"

She ran her fingers through her hair as she stared at the fire. "I don't know. Whoever..." She looked over at him then turned to face him head on. "Someone did not want us to be found."

"Someone?"

"I have no idea who, sir. But at this point it doesn't even matter." Jack shook his head, the need to build up optimism in his subordinate moving in, but Carter was not finished. "We're screwed, sir. We're stuck here on this planet with no way out and no hope of anyone finding us." She stared at him for a moment, visibly trying to calm down. "We're stranded."

Jack didn't respond. There wasn't anything else for him to say. He stared at her for a few minutes, then sat down on the log facing the campfire, grabbed his own cup and poured hot coffee into it. Carter sat down next to him and joined him in staring at the fire.

"There's still the chance someone will come looking for us," she finally said.

Jack took a sip of his own coffee and stared into the fire, knowing as well as she did that there were no guarantees, especially since their location could be anywhere within a million miles of their last communication with the SGC. Without that beacon, they were facing odds that even his Uncle Kurt would pass up on, and that man would gamble away his own mother if he had the chance.

Carter sighed, stood up and tossed the remains of her coffee into the fire. "I'm exhausted," she said as she stifled a yawn. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go lay down for a bit?"

He nodded as he said, "I'll take the first watch. I'll wake you when it's your turn."

She went into the ship at that while Jack followed her and secured the opening. He figured they were pretty safe with the outer door closed, but he still took his gun with him as he sat down by it while Carter lay down to sleep. The news that they were stranded didn't sit well with him and he was glad for the time alone so that he could brood in peace.

He leaned his head back against the wall and listened to the low hum of a dying ship. Despite Carter's assurance that they had several more days of life support, Jack began to make plans on the preparations he needed to take care of to ensure their survival. Rescue was never a guarantee, especially since the ship had veered away from their original course when the engines blew.

He glared at the wall as he wondered who hated him enough to deliberately switch out those crystals.

A lot of people, he realized.

He got up and went to sit down in a chair in the flight deck of the ship. Rain pelted the window as he stared out into the darkness, his thoughts turning to the last time he was stranded on a planet with no way home. He had been rescued then. And now that he thought about it, there was that time in Antarctica. His mood brightened a little. His men would come through for him, he thought with a grim smile. They had to.


	3. Chapter 3

The days seemed to meld into each other, especially since Sam spent a great deal of time working on the problem of getting the engines back on line. She had pretty much exhausted every idea that came to mind after the first week, but she kept tinkering with the crystals anyway whenever she got a free moment, hoping that something else would come up.

But for the most part, she and O'Neill spent most of their time readying their shelter for the long haul. They had lost all power the day before yesterday, leaving them without lights, refrigeration, heat and the all important life support systems, which meant they needed to modify the ventilation systems in order to avoid suffocating during the coldest days if they were going to keep the door closed. Heating was going to be another problem, but even though the weather was definitely showing signs of winter, she and the Colonel both agreed that breathing while living in a well-built shelter was a top priority for them.

Sam took a break from her current task and walked out to the campfire that they kept going during the day. The rain had let up for the time being, but everything was still wet. She dumped out the contents of a cup that had been left sitting on a log and filled it with coffee from the pot sitting on a makeshift grill over the fire. The coffee warmed her as she listened to the sounds of the woods. Raindrops from the trees plopped on the forest floor while birds chirped and insects buzzed, but there was something else. Sam looked over toward the trees that were in a tangle due to the tel'tak pelting its way through. The wind rattled the leaves, but something else was lurking in there.

"Colonel," she said as she reached for the zat she had in a holster at her waist. The wind continued to rustle through the leaves, although Sam still had her doubts that it was the wind. "Colonel O'Neill," she called out, a little louder this time.

"What," he asked as he stuck his head out through the door of the ship.

Sam didn't respond. She didn't have to. Apparently her posture and the fact that she was holding her zat alerted him to the possible danger. He came to stand next to her then took a few cautious steps toward the trees.

Sam followed his lead, walking softly behind him. The closer she got to her destination, the more the noise she heard resembled whimpers. Sam turned to O'Neill who looked back at her with a wary expression. She nodded and he indicated with hand signals that she should stand back to cover him, but before they could move a woman lurched out from behind the trees and fell to her knees. Sam and the Colonel both had their weapons trained on the woman the moment she appeared, even though she seemed to be unarmed.

"Maltam," she said, her hands held up in what appeared to be a plea. Sam took in the blood on the woman's face and clothing and wondered if maybe she was asking for help. "Maltam," the woman said again. "Ahmogee."

O'Neill apparently didn't have a clue either. "What's she saying?"

"I don't know," Sam responded. "Where's Daniel when we need him?"

"Ahmogee," the woman whispered before falling face first onto the ground.

"Cover me," the Colonel said. Sam nodded as she kept the zat aimed at the woman. O'Neill took his time, his gun aimed at her head just in case. He jostled her with his foot then bent down to check her pulse. He turned back to Sam and shook his head, leaving her to wonder what had happened to the poor woman.

O'Neill stood there looking down at the body as Sam came up to stand next to him. Both of them raised their guns immediately when they heard what sounded like a whimper.

"What the hell," O'Neill said, echoing Sam's thoughts perfectly. She shifted her weight a little as O'Neill knelt down next to the body on the ground. He pulled back the woman's shawl to reveal the dark hair of a baby she had been carrying on her back.

"Oh my God," Sam murmured as O'Neill gently pulled the child out of the sling. He stood up with the baby in his arms and stared at Sam, who was still in a state of shock. How had the baby survived whatever it was that happened to the mother?

"I think we now know what that woman was trying to tell us," O'Neill said as he stood there with the baby on his hip. He looked down at the child and smiled before turning back to Sam. "She knew she was dying and that this kid wouldn't last a day out here by itself."

Sam nodded sadly. It made sense that a mother's last act would be to save her child. But she still had to wonder what had happened to bring this woman to their campsite in the first place.

"What do you think happened to her," she asked as she went over to see for herself the injuries inflicted on the poor woman. She carefully turned the body over to get a better look. Blood streaked down the woman's face and stained her shirt, indicating several wounds. "She must have faced her attacker to protect the baby," she mused as she made her assessments.

"The bigger question is where she came from and are there more of her people out there," O'Neill said. "Not to mention the fact that someone did this to her and could be out there right now looking for her to make sure he, or she, finished the job." Sam watched him as he stood there bouncing the baby while scanning the trees that surrounded them. He seemed to be so at ease with kids, she thought, as she too turned to make her own assessments.

"Let's get this little one out of the cold," O'Neill said. He walked swiftly toward the tel'tak as Sam nodded. The Colonel was right. The woman had obviously been murdered and the baby needed protection. Sam hurried after him, making plans to dig out her P-90 the minute she got back.

Their shelter was much warmer than the weather outside, but still cold. Sam went about the task of looking for something to wrap the baby in while O'Neill held it out at arm's length to get a good look. "It's a girl," he said as Sam brought him a blanket from the storage bin. "I'd say she's several months old, maybe even a year." He wrapped the blanket around the baby and set her down on one of the ledges. She sat there staring at them with large dark eyes, while Sam found herself agreeing with the Colonel's assessment. A year at the most.

"What are we going to do with her," Sam had to ask. She had no idea how to take care of a baby and wasn't sure she wanted to learn while stranded out here in the wilderness. The supplies they brought with them did not include diapers, bottles or anything else that related to taking care of a baby, which now that she thought about it, was for a very good reason. Babies had no business on a Goa'uld cargo ship.

"We take care of her until we find her people," O'Neill told her. "In the meantime, I guess we have another body to bury." He shook his head then said, "I don't mind telling you that I hope this is the last time."

Sam found herself agreeing with him on that issue. She sat down next to the child when O'Neill stood up to head out the door. "I'll take care of this one, Carter," he told her quietly. "See what you can find to keep her warm and fed. I'll be back in a little while to help."

"Yes sir," Sam said as she tried to hold off on panicking. It's just like being with Mark's kids, she told herself, remembering the times she spent with her brother's children. How hard could it be?

She sighed and stood to pick up the baby. The little girl didn't even whimper as Sam got her situated on her hip. "Don't even think of peeing on me," she warned with a mock glare on her face. "Let's go look for something to use as a diaper."

*~*~*~*~*~*  
Jack pushed the shovel into the dirt as he dug yet another grave in the glade they had buried Bolton in. The gun strapped to his chest offered a measure of peace as he piled more dirt next to his friend's grave. There were no signs of people anywhere within the confines of their camp. Jack had made sure of it before attempting to spend any time out here by himself. Still, he kept his ears tuned to the sounds of the woods, his senses alive to any hint of a threat.

The ground was damp from the rain, making his job a little easier. Still, he had to use his foot to force the shovel in deeper. It was work that kept him busy as he tried to figure out what happened. They had been in this area for several weeks with no signs of danger, a fact that caused Jack to ease up a little in terms of being on constant guard duty. But a dead woman on his doorstep had him rethinking that strategy. Too bad she couldn't tell him what happened and what he and Carter were up against. He hated mysteries.

He continued to dig while working on the mystery of the woman and her baby, all the while keeping his guard up. He had already decided he and Carter were going to go scouting outside the perimeter of their camp to determine for sure whether they were in any danger. Going out on his own was no longer an option considering the circumstances. And Jack was not the type to hole up in a tel'tak to wait for the enemy to find him. It was much better to be one step ahead.

He went back to the ship once the hole was deep enough, intending to find another tarp to wrap the body in. He found Carter in the storage compartment with the baby sitting on the floor and Carter on one knee aiming her gun at him. She lowered the weapon when she saw it was him then smiled apologetically.

"Sorry sir," she said as she stood up to face him. He only had enough time to shrug before she held up a shirt and told him, "I suppose Colonel Bolton wouldn't mind if I used this to make something for the baby to wear." She looked at the shirt then back to Jack. "What do you think?"

"Bolton is not in the position to mind," he said as he glanced critically at the shirt. "How are you going to make that thing fit? Bolton is at least twenty sizes bigger than that kid."

"I have no idea," Carter told him with a slightly queasy look on her face. "I'll come up with something."

"You do that," Jack said with a grin. He had no doubt Carter would come through for that little girl.

His smile dimmed as he stared at the child, who stared back at him as he debated his options. It occurred to him that he had never taken a baby out with him on a reconnaissance mission and he wasn't really interested in doing so now. He turned to Carter and saw that she too was watching him with an indecipherable expression. Oh great, Jack thought.

"I need a tarp to bury the woman in," he said as a plan formed in his mind. "How many do we have left?"

"Three," Carter told him. She turned to a storage bin and reached in to grab one, while Jack laid down the rest of the plan.

"Let's get her buried. I want to get back out there to see if there are any more people lurking behind the trees somewhere." Carter nodded while Jack grabbed one of the radios. "You stay here with the rugrat," he continued as he turned to walk back toward the door with the tarp under one arm. "Keep the door shut and stay alert."

"Yes sir," she said. She grabbed her own radio and turned it on as she told him, "I'll be here if you need me."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Carter nodded solemnly. Apparently they both knew that she was hampered by a baby, one who had apparently decided to explore her surroundings. She got up on her knees and started to crawl toward a wrench Carter left on the ground.

"Oh no you don't," Carter said. She snatched up the wrench and put it on a shelf then picked up the baby when she crawled toward one of the benches that held several of Carter's crystals.

Jack smiled at the ladies in his midst then turned to get back to work. "Colonel O'Neill," Carter said just as Jack reached the door of the ship. He turned to look back at her with a questioning look then smiled slightly at the sight of the woman standing there with a squirming baby on her hip, a two-way radio in her other hand and a concerned expression on her face. Memories slammed home as he stared at her. Memories of his ex-wife and their son saying good-bye as Jack shipped off to another tour of duty.

But it was the warm feeling that flowed through him that brought on a wider smile. He allowed himself the luxury of thinking of Carter as something more than one of his team. It was almost as if he was leaving his family for a day at the office. He shook off the thought and asked, "Yeah?"

She stared at him as she hugged the child in her arms a little tighter to try to stop the squirming. "Be careful out there."

Jack nodded, then couldn't resist saying, "You be a good girl now, you hear? And mind Sam. I'll be back before you know it."

Carter chuckled at that as she shook her head at him. He grinned back and left the ship in a lighter mood.

Burying the woman took a bite out of the good mood, though. In fact, anger took over as Jack realized that he couldn't afford to think of Carter and that kid as family. He was her commanding officer, for crying out loud. He threw dirt back into the hole he had dug with more force than necessary, wondering what possessed him to think of her in that way.

Besides, he thought with a grim determination to put all that behind him, there must be people out there looking for the woman and her baby - hopefully someone friendlier than whoever killed her.

He rammed the shovel into the dirt between the graves when he was finished, debating on whether he should just leave it there. He pulled a bandanna out of his pocket and tied it to the handle, then left to scout out the territory as the bandanna waved quietly in the dampness of the woods.


	4. Chapter 4

Jack started his search in the woods where the woman had materialized. The scent of pine and wet dirt calmed him a little as he made his way carefully through the underbrush. The recent rains obliterated all signs of footprints, but Jack searched anyway. Footprints were not the only signs of human traffic, especially when the human in question was running away from something.

A noise to his left caused him to bring his gun up, but he relaxed slightly when a small rodent took off in the underbrush. Jack continued his search, moving farther and farther away from camp - farther than he had gone before.

A slight mist began to fall as he walked, a fact that Jack ignored completely. Water dripped on him from the trees as he brushed past leaves and ducked under low hanging branches. Nothing jumped out at him, nor did he see anything out of the ordinary. Everything was as it should be in a forest. The familiar sights and smells of rain-soaked woods assaulted him as he carefully jumped over a log, finally coming to the conclusion that he was alone in the forest.

Carter was sitting next to the door of the ship when he got back, her gun on her lap. "The baby's asleep," she said as he sat down next to her. Jack nodded then accepted the cup she had been drinking out of. "It's still hot."

"Nothing out there," he told her after taking a sip of the coffee. He stared out at the trees trying once again to come up with a reasonable solution to the woman's identity. "Lots of trees and rain and an animal that I'm willing to swear was a rat the size of a lion, but no sign of humans."

"The size of a lion?" She looked out toward the trees then back at Jack, who shrugged with a guilty look on his face. Okay, so it wasn't that big, he thought.

"Anyway..." he said with a pointed look at Carter, who had apparently figured out he was lying through his teeth. She grinned at him as he went back to discussing their problem. "I think we need to go on a little field trip." He stared at her for a moment, his mind working on the problem of dragging a baby around with them. "I checked everywhere within a twenty mile radius and nothing. Civilization is apparently days away which means it would be better to take her with us to keep the bad guys from finding our hideout." He sighed then said, "Can we secure the ship so that it won't be infested by the time we get back?"

"I think so, sir. I managed to modify the ventilation systems while you were gone and updated the door mechanism while I was at it." Jack was hopeful that meant an easier time of opening and closing the door that led out of the ship. Doing it manually was a pain in the neck, literally. He took another drink while Carter went on to say, "Locking it down shouldn't be a problem."

"Good," Jack said, his own thoughts ruminating on the supplies they were going to need. "We'll leave in the morning."

"Yes sir."

"How's the kid doing," he found himself asking.

"Sleeping," Carter said with what could only be described as relief in her voice. "She finally passed out on the floor while I was finishing up with the ventilation systems." She turned to stare out at the trees, while Jack drank his coffee. "Sir," she said hesitantly, her gaze now on the ground. "I have absolutely no idea how to take care of a baby." She looked back at him with a pleading look on her face. "I can't take care of her."

Jack briefly thought about teasing her, but decided now was not the time. "It's not that hard, Carter. You feed them, keep them warm and dry, and watch them like a hawk when they get close to something they're not supposed to be getting close to and you have it made." She shook her head again, clearly not believing a word he said. "Besides," he said as he stood up. "She'll be among her family in a few more days and you won't have to worry about it anymore."

"Until then?"

He looked over at her, suddenly understanding her thoughts. She was concerned that he was going to put the bulk of the baby's care in her lap. "Don't worry about it Carter," he said, deciding at that moment to keep it to himself that her worries were legitimate. He had definitely been planning on leaving it all to her. "We'll both muddle through this and hope for the best."

She nodded with a relieved smile. "Thank you, sir."

"Any time," he said as he watched her get up and head inside the ship. He stayed there a long time, hoping that he wasn't making a mistake in taking the baby with them. A breeze whispered among the leaves as the shadows deepened among the trees, reminding him of home.

We're long way from home, he thought with some sadness. How he missed that place.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
Sunshine shone through the trees as Sam and the Colonel made their way toward the woods on the other side of the river. They were armed with rations, supplies and weapons, everything they needed for a few days' hike through the woods. The only thing that differentiated this mission from any other was the baby bound in a makeshift sling on Sam's back. The child was quiet now that she was fed, but Sam didn't count her blessings. She now knew without a doubt that the kid could go off at any time for any reason, although to be fair, she was by nature a fairly happy baby.

"Lead the way Carter," O'Neill said when they reached a worn path that cut through the woods.

"Yes sir," she responded automatically as she took point. A path in the woods was definitely a good sign, although it could have been made by animals. Still, she stayed vigilant, even when she felt something wet slide down her back.

"Oops, someone had an accident," O'Neill said in a teasing voice, which Sam did her best to ignore. She kept walking as she ground her teeth in frustration, more determined than ever to exact her revenge on the insufferable man. "Too bad we didn't think to supply plastic diapers when we stocked the ship," he went on, blithely unaware of the murderous thoughts Sam was harboring. "Of course we'd have to burn them to save the environment, but you know."

"You're time will come, Colonel," Sam said spitefully. He could be so aggravating.

He didn't respond, but Sam could almost picture a huge grin on his face. She turned quickly to see if she was right, only to face a man who had successfully dropped the grin in a heartbeat, but was still having a hard time looking sympathetic. He finally gave up and smiled brightly at her, before prodding her along.

"We still have several hours of daylight. We'll stop in a couple hours to eat. We can change her then."

Sam didn't bother responding at that point. She just turned and walked away.

They walked in silence for a long time, until they reached a clearing several hours later. Sam so hoped this was her opportunity to rid herself of the baby. Although her shirt had dried some time ago, the smell of urine lingered heavily in her nostrils.

O'Neill shrugged out of his backpack then crouched down to get a better look without being seen. Sam crouched next to him and dug out her binoculars. The whole planet must be deserted, she thought as she scanned the clearing. They had walked for miles with no sign of people, and even here, the land was empty save for the wild grasses and flowers that grew out in the open.

"Do you think that woman was the last of her people?" she asked as she handed O'Neill the binoculars.

"Dunno," O'Neill responded.

She waited until he was satisfied while she continued to watch out for people and make her own assessments. The baby cooed and wriggled in her sling, apparently wanting to get down, but Sam ignored her, waiting instead to hear what O'Neill wanted to do next.

"We stop here for a bit," he said, his eyes still looking out toward the clearing. "I thought I saw smoke above the trees on the other side of the clearing over there. I want to check it out."

"Yes sir," she said as she immediately sat up in order to get the sling off of her back. She ended up holding the child in her arms, and Sam found herself staring into the baby's face. Brown eyes set against an olive complexion gave her an exotic look. "She really is beautiful," she said, voicing the thoughts that came to mind every time she looked at the baby.

"That she is," O'Neill said from his perch on a log he had found to sit on. Sam smiled down at the baby, using her hands to push away the dark hair that framed her small face, then tilted her head back when the baby reached up to stick her fingers into Sam's mouth.

"No," Sam said, as she shook her head at the child, her hair tickling the baby's face. She smiled as the baby laughed, then tickled her again before standing up to go sit down next to O'Neill. He looked up at her as he wiped his knife along his leg then smiled down at the baby who was now cooing at them.

"What's that you say? Sam tickled you?" He gave Sam a mock glare then turned back to the baby and reached over to tickle her stomach. More giggles erupted while Sam smiled at O'Neill. They ended up staring at each other for what seemed like several minutes before O'Neill broke eye contact to smile at the baby again. "I think it's time this little one got on some clean clothes," he said to break the uncomfortable silence. Sam nodded as she thought about what had just happened. It was almost as if time stopped for her when he looked at her like that. She grabbed the clothes the Colonel had tossed at her, and went about changing the little one out of the soiled clothes into the clean ones. She and O'Neill had been clever in improvising the baby's clothing, a fact that brought a certain amount of pride for Sam. This proved she wasn't a complete techno-geek when it came to fixing things.

She changed the baby, then took the energy bar the Colonel offered. O'Neill had taken a packet of oatmeal, mixed it with water then fed it to the baby who sat on the ground. This is nice, Sam thought, as she munched on her meal, a sense of contentment settling in while they ate. Silence, punctuated by the baby's coos, hung over them, adding to Sam's happiness. She smiled at little girl, wondering what it would be like to have her own child.

Okay, stop, she told herself firmly. She was stranded on an alien planet millions of miles away from home. The last thing she needed to think about was future babies. She stood up then and stretched the kinks out of her back. "I'll be right back," she told her commanding officer.

"Don't stray too far."

Sam wasn't about to. She knew the dangers as well as he did. She took care of business quickly then headed back to give O'Neill a chance to get away for a moment. She was getting the baby ready to leave by the time he got back, struggling to get her situated so that she could get the sling in place. O'Neill came over to help and then shrugged on his own backpack.

"Let's go," he said. Sam took the lead again, mainly to provide some protection for the little one. They'd have to go through the Colonel to even get close to the baby on Sam's back.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
They found the village just before dark. Late afternoon sun lent a golden tint to everything, including the trees. Dust swirled every which way as the wind played havoc on the deserted road that meandered through the middle of the village, enhancing the ethereal feel of emptiness. Sam stared in dismay at the broken down houses crowded together on one side of the road, while the ruins on the other side still smoldered from the fires that had gutted them to ashes, rocks and splintered piles of wood.

"Oh my God," she whispered, suddenly glad that the baby was too young to know the reality they were facing. She stared at the bodies that lay where they had fallen, dried blood and empty eyes all telling a story that Sam wished she'd never come to hear.

The baby on her back wriggled to get down, but there was no way that was going to happen as far as Sam was concerned. She tightened her grip on her gun as she followed O'Neill to the nearest building, crouching low in an effort to hide, worry for their own safety taking over. Whoever did this might still be out there and Sam was prepared to fight to win.

"There may be survivors," O'Neill said gruffly. Sam nodded in agreement as she waited for the order. If the woman and her baby could survive, there may be more.

"We stick together on this one Carter." She nodded again as he scanned the road once more. "Let's go."

They methodically checked every single building, even though the bodies had apparently been dead for quite a while. The smell of decay, along with the foul smell that came from the baby on her back was really starting to get to Sam.

Darkness had settled in the village by the time they finished their search. No survivors. Sadness washed over Sam as she stood there wondering what happened in that little village. A battle had taken place, but it seemed that the people who lived here were doomed from the start.

The baby finally had enough and started wailing at the top of her lungs.

"Shh," O'Neill said as he came over to free her from her restraints. "It's okay pumpkin. Shhhh." He came around to face Sam, his expression screwed up in distaste. He held the baby away at arm's length and said, "And here I thought the smell of death was bad!" He shook his head while at the same time saying, "Whew! That is nasty!"

Sam could only agree with him, having had to endure that smell for quite some time. "There's a well over there," she said as a suggestion, although she wasn't sure hanging around in a deserted battlefield was a good idea.

"They're probably long gone from here," the Colonel said, apparently judging her thoughts by the wary attitude she had taken on. "They would have attacked us by now if they were still around."

"Yeah," she replied warily. She kept her gun handy anyway as they made their way to the well where they promptly went to work cleaning up the mess the baby made. She washed out everything the baby soiled... everything but her jacket. She didn't look forward to wearing a wet jacket as cold as it was, so she left that for when she got back to the ship.

In the meantime, they decided that they'd spend the night in an empty building the natives apparently used for a barn. Sam didn't care. She took her turn feeding the fussy baby, while O'Neill did what he could to secure their campsite.

Sam lay down next to the baby, snuggling up under the blanket to keep them both warm. She ended up watching O'Neill who sat just inside the doorway with moonlight illuminating his profile and wondered what he was thinking. The baby took a long time to find a comfortable position, but Sam was content to let her squirm for awhile. She stared down at the little face that ended up close to hers and smiled softly. Such a beautiful baby.


	5. Chapter 5

Their campsite was just as they left it, nothing had been disturbed. Sam stopped to stare at the ship that had brought them there in the first place, thinking that she was never so glad to see that thing.

She took the baby out of the sling and set her down on the floor, watching with amusement as the little girl flapped her hands up and down in excitement. This was the first time in several days that she had this much freedom and she was apparently eager to show her pleasure.

But now that she was home... Home, Sam thought with shock. When did this place become home, she wondered as she look around the interior of the ship. She and the Colonel had lived here for a couple of months, but Sam had been so busy working on the engines and the ventilation system, not to mention the failed attempts to fix the communication device long enough to send out a signal, that she hadn't really thought of this place as anything other than a shelter. But now that she thought about it, the candles they used to light up the rooms at night were stacked neatly on a shelf in one of the storage containers that stood in the cargo bay, right next to the blankets, linens and towels they used on a daily basis. They had set up their bedrolls on the floor, twin bed style, in one corner of the cargo bay, while the table O'Neill made from two sawhorses and a shelf stood in the opposite corner, right next to two built in ledges along the wall.

There were no pictures on the wall or lamps on tables, but she could definitely see how this place had come to mean home to her. She shrugged with a grin on her face and went about getting settled in again.

O'Neill came in soon after she did and went over to pick up the baby to swing her around like an airplane. Sam watched them play, smiling at the baby whenever she swooped in close enough for Sam to reach out and tickle her, although she didn't this time. She watched them instead, her smile dimming as she tried to think of the best way to approach the Colonel with the topic of keeping the baby.

Just get it over with, she told herself firmly. She took a deep breath then said, "What are we going to call her?"

"What?" He was still smiling as he stopped swinging the baby and pulled her up to his chest. The little girl's face was flushed with happiness and she immediately tried to grab his teeth with her fingers. He pretended to gnaw on the fingers, then pulled back to kiss her on her head before turning to Sam to smile at her.

Sam smiled back as a familiar feeling tugged at her heart. She pushed back the feelings and concentrated on the issue at hand. "We can't keep calling her The Baby," she told him. "We should give her a name."

He frowned at that, worrying Sam for a moment as she wondered what he was thinking.

"I suppose you're right," he replied. He looked down at the baby and said, "What do you think? Do you like the name Agatha?"

Sam stared at the man in shock. Surely he was kidding. "Agatha?"

He laughed at her response then set the baby down so that she could explore. Sam knew from experience that she'll be there one minute and gone the next, so she kept her eye on her as she went back to the discussion.

"What about something a little more modern, like Katie?"

"Katie?"

Sam nodded, then hurried to say, "Or something else. Anything but Agatha, though." This last was said with a little heat. No way in hell.

"Does that mean Hephzibah is out of the question too?"

Sam just shook her head with determination, knowing he was teasing her. He looked crestfallen, but she knew it was all an act. "Katie is a nice name," she said to encourage him to her way of thinking.

"Yeah, I guess. It was my grandmother's name." He sat down and held his hands out to the baby, who immediately set out to crawl over to him.

"Really?"

He looked up at her again and said, "Really."

"We'll call her Katie then," she said with relief. She'd always liked that name and was pleased to be able to pass it on this little one.

"Katie," O'Neill said as he pulled the baby up to sit on his lap. "I hope you don't plan to live up to your namesake," he said to her. He looked over at Sam and said, "That woman was a harridan in her day. Loved her to death, but oh man did she have a temper." He smiled down at the little girl in his lap. "You're too pretty to be a harridan right?"

Katie cooed at him, while Sam steeled her resolve to get the rest of it over with while she was at it.

"We're going to have to keep her here with us," she said. O'Neill looked up at her and nodded before giving Katie his undivided attention. "Sir," she tried again, wanting to make sure he knew her feelings on this issue. "We'll have to raise her as if she were our own."

That got his attention. He stared at her with a shocked expression, and Sam figured she better try a different tactic. "Major?" he finally said.

"There's no one else to take care of her," she said, anxious to ease his mind. "She's just a baby."

"I know that, Carter." He put the baby down and got up to come stand next to her.

"I didn't mean that we take care of her as a couple," she hurried on to say. "I only meant that since we're the only people she has right now..." He was now standing close. Too close and she faltered, losing track of what she was saying. Get a grip, Sam, she told herself resolutely. "Since we're the only ones she has, I thought..." He stared at her with a questioning look, almost as if he was daring her to continue with her thoughts. She looked away for a second, now angry that this whole situation went down so badly. "What I want," she said, her emotions firmly in place, "Is to raise that baby as my own."

He nodded with a bemused smirk and Sam got the feeling he'd won at something. She was too determined to get her way on this though, so she ignored the smug look and gave him a look of her own.

"Sir?"

"What'll you do when we are rescued?"

Sam hadn't thought that far ahead, but she knew that she didn't have a choice in the matter. The baby needed her now.

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"You'd give up your career for that little munchkin?"

"I don't know," she admitted quietly. "Maybe I won't have to."

He stared at her for a moment then shrugged. "Well until then, we don't have a choice. You're right. We are all she has right now."

"Yes sir," Sam said, relieved that the whole discussion was over. She shrugged out of her coat, making plans to wash it out as soon as possible. "I'm going to wash this coat and the baby's... Katie's clothes." She debated on the wisdom of her next question, but asked it anyway. "Do you have anything you want me to wash?"

"Yeah," he said quickly. Too quickly, Sam thought. She should have known he'd jump on that. She rolled her eyes as he thrust some clothes into her hands. "Thanks Carter."

"You're welcome," she muttered as he thrust more at her.

"You're a peach," he told her with a grin that told her he was enjoying this way too much.

"Whatever," she said. She walked over to the door, her arms laden down with clothes, but stopped when the Colonel called out to her.

"Sir?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

Sam really didn't like the look he had on his face. He was definitely up to something. She shook her head as she tried to think of what it was she forgot.

"Katie?" She still didn't understand, so he clarified it for her. "You did want to be the one to take care of her."

Damn it, Sam thought. Anger reared up and she glared at the jerk as she realized the reason for the triumphant look on his face earlier. He was hoping that he wouldn't have to take care of that baby at all and she played right into his hands.

Not this time, she thought. "I'm going to be too busy cleaning _your_ shirts," she growled at him. "I'll take her with me when I get started on finding a way to heat this place up."

"You were the one who wanted to raise her on your own."

"Well I was hoping for some help on that," she shot back. The man was so infuriating, compounded by the fact that he could have her reprimanded if they ever get back to Earth, but Sam was too irate to think that far. "It's the least you can do."

This was greeted with raised eyebrows. "The least I can do?"

"Yes sir," Sam said, calming down a little. "We are both responsible for her, whether you like it or not." He didn't respond, so Sam took the opportunity to drive her point home. "What would you do if I weren't here?"

It was his turn to roll his eyes, but he went over to pull Katie out of the box of towels left on the floor. "It's a good thing I like this kid," he said to explain his change of heart. "But the minute she takes a dump, she's all yours."

Sam wisely kept silent on that one, grateful that he was going to help her out. "It's a deal. Thank you sir."

"Jack."

She looked back at him, a little wary of what he was telling her.

"Sir?"

"Call me Jack."

Sam reluctantly nodded with a confused look on her face, but if that was what he wanted, she was okay with it.

"Jack."

He nodded with a pleased look. "I figure if we're going to raise this little princess as _our own_ , we ought to be on a first name basis."

The feeling Sam tried to suppress earlier came back in full force, but she hid it quite well. She smiled at him as she turned to leave. The smile dimmed though as another worry popped into her mind. If she wasn't careful, she was going to fall in love with him as well.


	6. Chapter 6

Heating up their shelter proved to be quite a challenge. The days were still warm, but the nights were getting colder as time went on. Jack stood by the door of the ship, staring out at the trees surrounding their campsite. Brilliant splashes of red, gold and orange mixed in with the evergreens reminded him of the days he used to go deer hunting with his dad and grandfather. He shook away the memories and went back to concentrating on their current predicament.

Sam worked day and night to figure out how to get the heating systems back online, despite the fact they had no power. Jack had to exert his own power, that of his rank, to get her to rest. It was either that or let her determination kill her. She went willingly, but it took three days of switching out crystals, power cores and God knows what else before she finally gave up.

Jack took one last look around to make sure the campsite was barren of anything that moved on two legs then pulled the door closed. They were safe enough with the door closed, although he still kept a zat ready just in case. Old habits died hard, he supposed.

He found Sam sitting in one of the chairs by the control panel, but Katie was nowhere to be seen. He checked the cargo bay and found her sound asleep on one of the bed rolls they had set up, fortified against wetness by an absorbent maintenance pad. Jack smiled fondly at the baby. She was definitely growing on him. He went over and pulled the blanket up to her chin, then left to join Sam.

He sat down in the other chair and stared out the window at the deepening shadows, wondering what was going on at the SGC. Were they still working on a rescue plan several months later? He sighed heavily as he realized that the chances of that happening were pretty slim. He still held on to the hope that they might come through for them though.

"It's getting colder," Sam said quietly. She shook her head as she stared out into the wilderness and added, "I don't know what else to do."

"We have enough wood," Jack told her to keep her spirits up. "We just need to figure out how to keep a fire going inside here without dying of smoke inhalation and we'll be all set." Sam nodded, but Jack could see that she was just humoring him. He went back to staring out the window, wondering what he could say to make her feel better.

"I figure we could build some kind of a stove next to the door," he said instead. "And route the flue so that the smoke goes out that way. We may have to break down and cut a hole in the ship..." Sam opened her mouth to say something, but Jack beat her to it. "Which will make it worthless if we want to fly this thing out of here in the future. I know."

"Maybe the Tok'ra can send one of their ships to rescue us," she said. "Then it won't matter."

Jack grinned at that. If only, he thought. "In the meantime, do we or don't we? What do you think? Can you do it?"

She smiled as she looked away for a moment. The smile was still on her face when she turned back to look at him. "I think I can do it."

"Good," Jack replied. He sat back in the chair and turned to look out the window. "I don't like the cold."

"Me neither," Sam said. Silence fell over them as they sat looking out the window. It was a comfortable silence, which was nice for a change. Jack usually felt like the odd man out whenever the silence meant Sam was working on a problem. Those were the times he resorted to figuring out what else needed to be done to keep him and Sam alive until rescue finally came... if it came.

The sound of Katie whimpering filtered in from the other room. "She's been doing that all day," Sam said. She continued to stare out the window, as Jack wondered what she was thinking. He could tell something was wrong. He didn't ask though. He figured she'd tell him soon enough. It wasn't a long wait. "Jack." He looked over at her, but didn't say anything. She was now looking at her hands, which worried him a little. "I'm not sure I'm cut out to take care of a baby."

The sadness he heard in her voice alerted him to the seriousness of that statement. He thought about giving her a healthy dose of "yes you can" optimism, but he didn't get the chance. The words seemed to spill out of her mouth like a fountain.

"She cries all the time. I tried feeding her and changing her and walking with her." She sniffed, then added. "I just don't know what to do." She gave him a pleading look, as she said, "I don't what I was thinking, Jack. I can't take care of a baby."

"The first thing we were told when Charlie came into our lives was that there are no set instructions on parenting." He shrugged at her, then said, "I wasn't home a lot when he was a baby, but I do remember the nights full of doubts Sara and I shared whenever that kid screamed his head off." He turned to look out the window at the semi-darkness as he said, "It got easier as time went on."

"I don't know what to do for her," Sam said, apparently not letting go of her own doubts. "She just cries all the time."

"Maybe she's teething," Jack said, as he mulled over every little snippet of info he could remember about raising a baby. "Does she have the squirts?"

"The what?" Sam asked then shook her head, "No. No diarrhea. Why?"

"Charlie never had them when he was teething, but a buddy of mine complained daily of his kid's ability to fill up a jug full of the stuff." He grinned at her, then said, "I can't tell you how glad I am Katie doesn't have them."

"You and me both," Sam said with gusto. The grin on her face encouraged Jack. At least she's getting past the doubts. She turned to look him then. "Do you really think its teething? I never even thought of that."

"Little teeth cutting through the gums would definitely hurt," he told her. "Give her something to chew on to make her feel better."

"Like what?"

She had a point there. They were completely unprepared for a baby, especially a sick one. He tried to think of something, but nothing came to mind. He shrugged then said, "I know you Sam. You'll think of something."

"Well thanks a lot for the vote of confidence," she said with more than a hint of sarcasm. But she was still grinning at him, which meant he didn't have to resort to the optimism after all. They were at peace with each other and Jack couldn't help but compare these quiet times when they talked about everyday life and worries with the days he spent with his other family, a family that didn't exist anymore. His smile dimmed at that thought. He and Sam ended up staring at each other, which was something else they did a lot over the past few days. Jack found himself wishing for more than just a friend sitting next to him.

He broke off the eye contact and looked out the window at the rays of moonlight that shot through the foliage. It paved a path through the campsite and illuminated the cabin where they sat in silence. Jack tried to focus on the landscape outside the window, anything to steer his thoughts away from the woman who sat next to him. She was in his command, he thought valiantly, which made her off-limits.

More whimpers came from the other room, which gave Jack the incentive he needed to find something else to focus on. Sam stood up at the same time he did, and both stopped dead when their shoulders touched.

"After you," Jack said as he struggled to rein in his emotions.

"Thanks," she responded with a nod.

The whimpers from the other room turned into wails, prompting Sam to pick up her pace with Jack right behind her. Katie sat on the pallet with tears streaming down her face and two fingers in her mouth. Sam grabbed her and pulled her up to hug her tight. Jack came up to find out for himself that new teeth were indeed the problem. He tugged on Katie's arm, causing her to look over at him, her eyes wet with tears. He lifted her lip up to get a better look. "Ah," he said triumphantly, "Told you so."

"Let me see," Sam insisted. She did her own inspection then put her finger in to rub the new tooth in the baby's gum. "Ouch," she yelled as she tried to pull the finger out from between Katie's teeth. She got it free while Jack laughed at her.

"That'll teach you to stick your finger into someone's mouth," he said, still grinning broadly at her. She held up the offended finger and Jack grabbed at it playfully. "You want me to kiss it to make it better?" God, he thought as he realized what he had just said. He regretted the words the minute they came out of his mouth, but he still brought her hand to his mouth, staring at her as he did so. The look on her face told him she was harboring the same doubts he was dealing with, a fact Jack tried to push past as he pressed his lips to the finger. She didn't pull away, just stood there with wide eyes and a whimpering baby in her arms. He moved to the palm of her hand and kissed it, savoring the warmth, before pulling back to look into her eyes.

"Jack," she whispered, the sound sending a shiver down his spine. He stepped closer, unable to help himself, until they were almost touching. Katie reached out and grabbed his shirt, but Jack only had eyes for Sam.

"What are the chances of us being rescued?" he asked her. She shook her head and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. "Sam," he said as he took another step closer. "We've been here for a long time, and so far nothing." She nodded this time, their eyes still connected, neither one able to look away. He finally broke contact to look down at her mouth, then back up to her eyes. "Sam?"

He waited, half hoping she would say yes, while the other half of his thoughts dwelled on the consequences if they _were_ ever rescued. She gave him a tiny smile and Jack didn't give her a chance to change her mind. He pulled her close and kissed her, a long passionate kiss that seemed to help in getting rid some of the pent up energy he was experiencing. He pulled back a little, smiling at her when he saw the look in her eyes. She had no regrets. Katie whimpered again and Jack smiled down at her.

"Oh come on," he told her with mock complaint as he pulled her fingers out of her mouth. "Don't be jealous." He kissed her on her head then said, "You're still my number one girl."

Katie pouted, obviously still in a lot of pain while Sam smiled fondly at her and gave her another hug. She looked back up at him with an uncertain expression and said. "Um... Maybe we shouldn't..."

Great, there were regrets after all, he thought angrily. "Shouldn't what?" She stared at him, unable, or unwilling to come right out and say it. "Sam?"

She stared at him for a moment longer then sighed, apparently getting got over whatever plagued her because she smiled at him and reached over to pull him in for another kiss. Women, Jack thought when they finally came up for air. He didn't think he would ever understand them. But then again, he thought as he remembered the softness of her lips, what did it matter?

*~*~*~*~*~*  
Sam woke early, courtesy of a fussy baby who whimpered next to her ear. She reached over to rub Katie's back, calming her enough to go back to sleep. Sam listened to the baby's breathing as she remembered the teething conversation she'd had with Jack last night. She still couldn't believe that she hadn't thought about that, although to be fair, she never claimed to have any experience raising a baby before.

That thought brought on another memory, the one of Jack kissing her finger with such tenderness that Sam was still surprised she hadn't melted into a puddle right then and there. She stared up toward the ceiling, remembering the warmth of his lips as he kissed her finger, her hand, and then her mouth. She had liked it when he kissed her, even as she held her doubts that they shouldn't be doing it, no matter what.

Thank God she had come to her senses, she thought with a grin. That man really did know how to kiss.

Katie snuggled up closer to Sam, which cut into her thoughts of Jack O'Neill. They didn't get the chance to go any farther than the kisses they'd shared. Katie fussed for hours after that, and they were both too tired by the time the baby finally fell asleep. Sam didn't mind too much. In fact, she was glad they didn't rush into anything. Better to take these things slowly, she reasoned.

A noise that sounded like a siren blaring outside split the air and Sam sat up quickly, noticing that Jack had done the same. They stared at each other for a moment then both sprang into action. Someone or something had tripped one of the sensors they set up around the perimeter of their camp. There was no time to think.

Sam grabbed a flashlight from the shelf and took the gun Jack handed her. He was good, she thought, as she checked the gun for ammunition. Finding things in the dark was not an easy task.

"Stay here with Katie," he told her as he headed out of the room. She nodded, although she still went over to the door that led into the flight deck of the tel'tak and looked out toward the outer door. It was still closed, which eased Sam's mind. She knew that door was nearly impenetrable, but she also knew that nothing was ever completely failsafe. Jack looked back at her from his stance near the window, his gaze wary as he shook his head.

"It's a good thing the sun is up," he told her. "But I still can't see anything." She nodded as she waited for him to make his decision. "It's snowing out there," he said as he looked toward the door. "Whoever is out there is probably looking for shelter."

Something thumped on the outside of the ship causing them both to bring their guns up to aim in the direction the sound came from. More thumps and an occasional bang announced that the person or persons out there were getting aggravated. Katie chose that moment to crawl over to Sam, pulling on her pant leg as she tried to stand. Sam shook her leg, trying to loosen the child's grasp. She didn't dare take her eyes off of the door to the outside, but Katie was insistent. She grabbed Sam's pant leg again, and Sam turned to whisper harshly at her. "No Katie. Stop that!"

Katie apparently didn't understand. She stood on wobbly legs as she held on to Sam's pants with a death-like grip. Sam looked back up at Jack with an apologetic expression, but he just indicated with his head that she should take Katie back into the cargo bay. "They're not going to break their way in," he said quietly. "Find someplace to keep her safe."

"Yes sir," Sam said with reluctance. She didn't like to leave anyone to take on the enemy by themselves, but she knew that Katie was far too young to understand the danger they all were in. She pushed the strap the gun was tethered to around until the gun hung down her back then picked up the baby and took her over to sit down on one of the benches built into the wall.

Jack came in a half hour later and sat down next to her. Sam waited, but he didn't say anything right away. Instead, he smiled at Katie and smoothed her hair.

Sam couldn't wait. She needed to know now. "What was it?"

"Three men," he told her. "Dressed in the same kind of clothes Katie's mother wore. They finally gave up trying to break in and started scavenging for whatever they could find." He looked down at the baby again and said, "They could be looking for her."

That thought sent an irrational shiver of fear through Sam. She squelched the desire to protest and asked instead, "How can you be sure?"

"I'm not," he responded with a shrug. "They're dressed like her people so I just assumed they were her people."

Sam nodded, but didn't say anything. It would be good for Katie if they were indeed her people. They could take care of her and Sam wouldn't have to worry about washing the makeshift diapers on a daily basis, not to mention cleaning up after the kid when she did go. She watched as Katie pulled herself to a standing position on Sam's lap, leaving a soggy wet mess on Sam's pants.

"Hey," Jack said softly. Sam turned to him, trying hard to be brave and act like she really wanted this, while at the same time avoiding his eyes so that he wouldn't see her heartbreak. Despite her misgivings last night, Sam had already fallen in love with the baby.

He tilted his head to look in her eyes, and she finally gave in. Steeling her resolve, she looked up and nodded her head to let him know she was okay. He didn't seem to buy it though.

"We don't know for sure," he told her with an encouraging smile. "We'll make sure before we let her go, okay?" Sam nodded, cursing the traitorous tears that welled up in her eyes. "It'll be okay, Sam. I promise." She nodded again and tried to smile, but he came in close and kissed her softly. Sam pulled back from the kiss and smiled at him.

"I'll be okay," she said with a bravery that seemed fake to her somehow. "I'd better get her changed into something dry. And me too," she added. "I'll be just a minute."

"Sam."

She stopped and gave him a questioning glance, but he just stepped up and kissed her again. Sam put her arms around him this time and held him close, loving the way he made her feel.

"Good morning," he said in a silky voice.

She couldn't help but smile back him. "Good morning to you too."


	7. Chapter 7

They went about their morning chores inside the tel'tak, hoping to give the natives a chance to leave. Neither one really wanted a confrontation with them until they knew for sure if they were friendly, but Sam had other reasons for stalling. She was terrified of losing Katie.

Jack apparently finally decided that enough was enough. He held his gun tightly as he eased the door open. Sam went with him as far as the entrance, feeling guilty and worried about locking Katie up in the cargo bay. It's for her own safety, she told herself for the fifth time even as she worried about the damage a little baby could do to herself when left unattended. Still, she nodded to Jack to let him know she was ready and he stepped outside just as cold wind blew past, reminding Sam once again that the stove wasn't going to build itself. Snow covered the ground already, a fact Sam noticed as she scanned the tree line, looking for anything out of the ordinary, while at the same time ready to cover Jack if the opportunity arose.

The forest was quiet save for the whispered sounds of snow falling on the leaves above their heads. Sam shivered as she continued her scan, enjoying the beauty of her surroundings as she gripped the gun in her hands. The only signs of other humans were the footprints in the snow, footprints that seemed to be heading in every direction. Apparently the men searched every inch of the camp. A gust of wind blew past her again, but Sam ignored the cold this time. She looked at Jack, who signed that he was going to scout around the tel'tak and for her to hold her position. Sam nodded and continued to scan for any signs of danger.

The silence of the woods was getting to her. It was an eerie sound, no chirps or other animal sounds, just complete silence. This could be a blessing, she thought warily. She should be able to hear anyone coming toward her. Something caught her eye and she turned to see what it was, her finger tight on the trigger. Her eyes widened as she saw a woman standing there. A woman wearing clothing stained with blood.

"Oh my God," Sam whispered as she stared at the sight. The woman stared back then turned to walk into the trees, seeming to disappear as she did so. "No," Sam said. The woman bore a remarkable resemblance to Katie's mother, a fact that defied logic. The woman in question was dead and buried.

She debated whether to follow the woman, but knew she couldn't leave Katie unprotected. She stayed where she was and waited for Jack to return. And even though she kept a vigilant surveillance over the entire camp, her eyes still strayed to the spot where she last saw the woman, wondering who she was, where she went, and whether her eyes had deceived her.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
Jack strode quietly through the woods as he tried to find out where those men had gone, or worse, if they were still hanging around waiting to ambush him. He slipped into the trees, falling back into old habits he'd learned when he went through Special Forces training. He tread softly as he listened for anything out of the ordinary, but there was nothing; nothing but silence - a silence that seemed out of place here in a forest.

The men had apparently left, but Jack was no fool. He knew better than anyone that those guys could still be hanging around. It was just a matter of _where_ they were hanging out. He debated the wisdom of going out on his own to look for them, but decided to wait until he was sure Sam and Katie were settled in with heat and extra rations before leaving them alone. He finally made it back to the front of the ship, but stopped when Sam turned toward him, her gun aimed directly at his heart.

He raised his arms up in an act of surrender, but she had already lowered her gun when she saw him.

"Anything?"

"No," he said as he walked over to her. She looked off toward the trees and Jack followed her gaze, pulling up his gun as he did so. "Nothing at all. You?"

She looked back at him, then back toward the spot that captured her attention seconds ago. "Over there," she said with a nod of her head in the direction she was speaking of. "I saw a woman there a moment ago."

"A woman?"

"Yeah. Over there."

Jack went over to take a look, his steps slow and careful. He slowly walked into the woods, searching in every direction, but nothing, not even footprints. This is crazy, he thought as he finally gave up and went back to the ship, hating that they were sitting ducks out here in Nowhereville. He shook his head when he came up to Sam, then went to the stack of wood they had piled up next to the ship and pulled back the tarp.

"Let's get started on that stove," he told her. "Looks like we're going to need it sooner rather than later."

They worked together to bring in more wood, while Katie screamed her head off in the other room. He could hear her even though he was outside pulling the tarp back over the wood to keep it dry. Sam went over to open the door in the bulkhead that separated the two rooms, and did her best to calm Katie down. Jack finally got the outer door closed and locked down and he went to see what he could do to help.

Katie had stopped screaming, although she was still sobbing her heart out. It was apparent that the kid didn't like being left alone, but they had no other choice. She was too young to realize she needed to stay out of the way. Jack took her in his arms to give her a hug, holding her tight as she cried and held on to him with everything she had.

"Shhh." He told her quietly as he rocked her in his arms. "It's okay. Shhh."

Sam leaned up against him, her arms circling his waist. They stood there for a long time as Jack continued to soothe the baby with words, until Katie's sobs quieted down to hiccoughs. Sam let go and reached up to smooth away the tears on Katie's face, giving her a warm smile as she did so.

"You okay sweetie?" Katie turned to look at her, but she wasn't ready to give up so easily. Her lower lip was stuck out in a real pout.

"Aww honey, it's okay," Sam said as she reached over to take Katie in her arms. The baby went willingly while Sam gave her the low down. "Let's go get you something to eat," she said. "You haven't eaten yet have you?" Katie was now staring at Sam's mouth while Sam talked, and Jack just stood there as warmth spread through his whole body. Sam turned to walk back toward the storage bins stacked up against one wall of the cargo bay, talking to the baby the whole time. "I think we might still have a little sugar left to go with some oatmeal. You like that right?" No response, but no one expected one anyway. "I like sugar too," she insisted, the sound of her voice fading into a murmur as she reached her destination.

Jack stood there for a moment longer, reflecting on the familiar feeling that took up residence in his heart. They were almost like family, the three of them, and it hurt a little to realize that it felt good to be a part of that. He turned away and went into the control room to sit down and think.

They shouldn't be doing this, he thought with deep regret. How could he even consider letting this happen when they could be rescued at any time? He could just see himself standing in front of Hammond with the news that he and Sam not only took on the task of raising somebody's baby; they also spent a good amount of time making out. He stared out the window, watching the snow drift down in a lazy sort of way, wondering what possessed him to think that he would be good in this family when all he did was tear the other one apart.

He shook his head at that thought. It wasn't entirely his fault, he reasoned. Not all of it. He sat quietly for a long time, working out his fears in silence, finally realizing that this could be his chance to do it right. He was older and wiser this time around. He could do this.

The silence in the cabin helped to calm him, but it was the sound of Sam's voice as she came up to wrap her arms around his neck that did the trick. "Everything okay?" she asked.

He nodded, intending to respond verbally, but he tugged her around instead and pulled her into his lap. She grinned at him then kissed him, her arms wrapped around his neck in a comforting embrace. He loved the feel of her body so close to his, but he broke the kiss when he heard a baby gurgling in the background. Katie had crawled up to the chair they were sitting in and was pulling herself up to a standing position. Jack and Sam traded grins before he pulled her in for another kiss. She definitely made it easy to chase the doubts away.

"Later," he whispered, hoping he'll be able to keep that promise. She stared at him with what appeared to be happiness in her eyes. He refused to consider any other emotion at this point. He'd been wrong about that before. She kissed him again then got up off his lap.

"In the meantime," she told him as she picked up the baby, "We need to figure out how to heat this place up. We've been lucky that the insulation built into the ship keeps us warm in this weather, but the colder it gets outside that harder it will be to keep the inside warm."

Jack sighed as he looked out the window. The snow had stopped but he knew she was right. "Duty calls," he said with a mock frown at the little girl in Sam's arms. Katie cooed back at him which caused Jack to grin at her. Apparently she had already forgotten the little fact of having been locked up in the cargo bay. He ruffled her hair and followed Sam out of the room.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
It took them three days to rig something up to heat the interior of the tel'tak. They ended up with a large metal container that was converted from one of the storage bins, reinforced it by lining it with rocks and fashioned a flue out of a few ventilation chutes. The last part was the hardest decision they both had to make. Damaging the ventilation system meant that the tel'tak was officially out of commission forever.

Well, maybe not forever, Jack thought as he dragged in more wood to fill up the other metal container they converted for that purpose. Sam was already hard at work thinking of ways to bypass that stuff, at least that's the idea he got when he overheard her mumbling something about possibly making it fly again. Her ingenuity never failed to amaze him and he had no doubts whatsoever that she could do anything she put her mind to.

She helped him bring in as much wood as the container would hold, leaving the rest under the tarp. But even though they had quite a bit already cut up and ready to burn, Jack wasn't so sure it would be enough.

It wouldn't hurt to have more than they needed, he reasoned as he made plans to chop more after they got back from the trip to the river. The ship's reservoirs were only half full, and he was not about to take the chance they'd run out if they were stranded by a snowstorm or something.

He set down another empty five-gallon water jug on the sled they'd made out of some of the wood then tied the whole lot down with some rope. Sam came out of the tel'tak at that moment and shut the door tight. She was dressed for the weather, her gun hanging by a strap, and the baby's sling tied around her chest. He laughed at the sight then ducked his head when she gave him a quizzical look.

"What?"

The glare on her face made her look all the more fierce and Jack gave up trying to hide his amusement. "Look at you standing there with a baby on your back and ready to battle." She narrowed her eyes at him, while Jack smirked, tried to look innocent and said, "What?"

She didn't respond, just shook her head as she walked past him. He watched her go with an appreciative eye on her hips then gave a little shrug as he grabbed the rope to drag the sled behind him. Maybe tonight would be the night, he thought with eager anticipation.

They walked further into the woods toward the river with their guard up. The men from the other day had not come back, but Jack knew better than to think they were safe. Those guys knew about the tel'tak and it defied reason to think they would just stay away. Because of this, Jack and Sam never went anywhere on their own nor did they go anywhere without their guns.

The river sparkled in the sun, enticing them with the dancing lights that flashed through the trees. They didn't come here often, but Jack was always glad whenever they had to get more water. The sound of the river lapping up against the shore and rushing downstream always seemed to relax him.

They didn't dare spend too much time at the river though, much to Jack's chagrin. Being out in the open like this made them a great target. With this in mind, they made quick work of filling up the jugs and tying them down again to drag back up to their campsite.

They got the last jug filled and Jack took one more look around. Nothing out of the ordinary jumped out at him. Everything seemed so quiet. Sam stooped down to get a handful of water, while Jack stared at a woman who suddenly appeared a good fifty feet from their location. He pulled his gun up and aimed it at her, but she just stood there and stared at him, almost as if she was warning him of something. "Sam," he said, his eyes never leaving the woman's face.

The woman turned away and walked into the river. Jack frowned, wondering at her stupidity, but then got a little scared when she disappeared into the flashes of light that sparkled off the waves.

"Jack?" Sam stood next to him, looking out over the river, but Jack barely noticed. Who was that woman? Where had she gone?

"What is it?" Sam asked quietly.

He turned to look at her wondering how she could have missed the woman. "Did you see that?"

She stared back at him, her expression wary, almost as if she was worried about him. Or maybe it was something else. "See what?"

"That..." He shook his head, suddenly worried about his own sanity. "Never mind." He grabbed the rope to the sled and started pulling it away from the river. "Let's just get out of here."

The sled was heavy now that the water jugs were full, but Jack put everything he had into pulling that thing as fast as he could. The sooner they got back to the ship, the better.

"Wait," Sam said as she came up next to him. "What did you see back there?"

"I don't know," Jack said, not stopping for anything. "Stay alert."

She nodded and they walked back through the forest making good time. They were almost to the ship when Jack pulled up short just as a man dropped down in front of him. The man's gaze went back and forth between Jack and Sam, with what looked like a knife clenched tightly in his fist.

"Whoa," Jack said, his gun pulled up and aimed directly at the man. "Where'd you come from?"

He didn't respond, just stood there in a crouching position, apparently deciding which one he wanted to take on first. Jack was determined that if anyone got hurt, it would be the lunatic standing in front of him. He took a step forward, while Sam turned to face the other way to keep an eye out for his friends. The stranger didn't take kindly to Sam turning her back on him, but Jack tried to reason with him anyway.

"Let's just take this slowly," he said as calmly as he could. "We don't want to hurt you. Just tell us who you are and what you want." No response. Probably a language barrier, Jack thought, as he sized up the situation. The man was dressed just like the others who visited them the other day, and like Katie's mother, now that he thought about it. Or the woman at the river. He mentally shook away that thought and focused on the man in front of him.

"Let's just talk this over," he tried again. The man waved the knife at Jack, which gave Jack his answer. This guy was not going to cooperate. "Okay, then. We're going to go back to our ship now." The man waved the knife threateningly at him once more, and Jack decided to hell with it. "Let's go Sam," he said, as he watched the other guy.

Jack picked up the rope and tugged on it, but dropped it again when the man lunged. He heard Sam yell his name, but Jack was too busy fighting to get the knife away from the man who was intent on killing him.

They struggled until Jack threw a punch and knocked his attacker to the ground, but it wasn't over. The man got up and came at him again. Jack grabbed his wrist and tried to twist it, cursing when the stranger punched him in the gut with his other fist. Jack went down, still hanging on to the wrist holding the knife and ended up on the ground with the knife inches from his face.

The man stiffened and fell over to the side while Jack looked up into the face of Sam Carter. He grinned up at her while he lay there panting, then took the hand she offered as she helped him to stand up.

"Thanks for that," he said when he was able to breathe again. "Sorry you had to be the one to knock some sense into that guy."

"No problem," she responded with a relieved smile. "You'd do the same for me."

"You do have a point there," he said as he bent down to pick up the rope. "Let's go. I want to make it back to the ship before his friends find him."

They made it back without any more trouble. Jack didn't even stop to unload the water, he just dragged the sled and all into the ship as soon as Sam got the door opened. She wasted no time in shutting it once they were inside, and Jack finally relaxed long enough to realize they were lucky it hadn't been worse.

"Only one of them," Sam said as she pulled the sling around to release Katie. The baby was asleep, which was a good thing. Jack wasn't up to dealing with a playful baby, or a whiney one for that matter. "I wonder where the others are," she asked as she went into the other room to lay the baby down.

Jack set about unloading the jugs, wondering the same thing. That had definitely been a close one. Sam came back into the room to help, but Jack put a hand out to stop her. She looked back at him while Jack tried to relay to her his gratitude without saying anything. He probably would have gotten free of that guy on his own, but he was grateful all the same.

She stared back at him, her expression telling him that she understood. This pleased him. He continued to look at her, his gaze taking in everything from her beautiful face to the way she looked at him. "Beautiful," he murmured as he brought his hand up to cup her face. She blushed at that, but didn't look away, an act that did a number on his heart. "Oh Sam," he said as he pulled her in for a hug. She held him tightly, while Jack buried his face in her hair knowing that he should just give in.

He kissed her neck then licked the skin next to her ear. Sam sighed as she arched her neck to give him more access. He continued to kiss her neck, his mouth moving along the curve until he reached her chin. She turned her head toward him and he captured her mouth, kissing her deeply while his fingers pressed against her face then slid into her hair.

The kiss became something more, almost desperate. Encouraged, Jack reached up to unzip her jacket and she let go of him in order to help. Their movements became frantic, and they soon found themselves on their bedroll with Jack hovering over her as she pulled back from the kiss.

"Katie," she said with a wary expression.

"Asleep."

"If she wakes up?"

He looked over to the other bedroll then turned back to her. "Still asleep." She chuckled at that, then pulled him down for another kiss. "Love that quirky sense of humor," she said when he moved from her mouth to her neck.

"Quirky," he said with an indignant growl into her neck while his hands slid across her stomach. He nipped the skin then licked it, trying to ignore the thrill he got when she used the word, love. He pulled up and looked into her face. "I'll have you know," he said then kissed her. "I have a great." Another kiss. "Sense of humor."

She just pulled him in for yet another kiss, which was fine with Jack. They needed to make the best of what little time they had before Katie really did wake up.


	8. Chapter 8

Sam sat in the co-pilot's chair in the flight deck and stared out at nothing. Jack could be such an ass, she thought angrily. He was in the cargo bay planning a trip to hunt for the wild boars they had seen wandering around. They needed the meat to supplement their dwindling supplies he had argued, but Sam was worried about the natives and what they would do to him if he was caught out there alone.

It had been a little over three weeks since they were attacked, and they hadn't seen nor heard anything at all, but Sam knew that appearances could be deceiving.

They had argued over this all last night and now Sam sat alone trying to get over her fears, knowing he was going to chance it anyway. "Stupid," she muttered angrily.

"We need the food," the object of her ire said from the doorway behind her. Sam didn't even look around. She continued to stare out at the snow covered trees, too angry to give him the satisfaction.

"Come on Sam..."

"We have more than enough to get us through if we ration it."

"Enough to last us all winter?"

Sam knew he was right which was just as irritating. "Those men could still be out there," she said stubbornly.

He sighed and came up to sit in the other chair. "We went over this same old stuff last night. We keep going round and round."

"And what am I supposed to do if they kill you?" She glared at him, wishing he'd at least try to understand. "How do I go on without you?"

The last question was meant as a rhetorical query, but it came out sounding almost desperate. Sam turned to look out the window again, wishing she could retract every word.

"You won't have to worry about it," he said after several minutes of silence. "I'll be back."

"Can you promise that?" she shot back in anger. He didn't respond, just stared at her. "I didn't think so, Jack."

"Look. Sam. We need the food and there are plenty of boars out there." She didn't bother looking at him. He had made up his mind and there wasn't anything she could do about it. She continued to stare out the window, too angry to even think. "I'll be back before you know it," he added.

Sam nodded angrily. Jack got up and came to stand next to her, but Sam refused to look at him. It'll be all right, she told herself firmly. He's specially trained to survive in worst situations. A small animal suddenly ran across the ground in front of the tel'tak, stopping to poke at something in the ground then took off again. Sam watched then turned to face Jack when he came to lean up against the control panel, his back to the window.

"I'll be gone a couple days tops. Stay inside with Katie and keep her safe." Sam nodded again, still angry at the whole mess. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I'll be back soon, I promise."

She still didn't respond, although she seriously thought about bringing up the suggestion that she and Katie should go with him. It didn't fly the first time, and with good reason. He had crushed that idea into the ground before she could even get up enough steam to push for it. Katie had a bad cold, with a deep, rattling cough that scared Sam every time she heard it. He was right when he'd said she would be better off here where it was warm.

"Sam?" He sighed then said, "Hey. I'd rather not leave here with you mad at me." She turned to look at him, now thinking seriously of hitting him. "Come on Sam. Can't we at least meet halfway here?

"Yeah," she finally said, tired to the core of fighting a brick wall. "Be careful out there."

"I will." He kissed her mouth this time, then left, leaving Sam to stare out the window again.

"Please come back safe," she whispered as she watched the snow flutter from one of the trees. "Please."

*~*~*~*~*~*  
Sam woke up the next morning, shivering in the early morning cold. They had stuck to their decision to ration out the wood by only burning it during the day and letting the fire die down during the night, but getting up in the mornings was getting harder and harder to do.

She got up and went over to throw some wood on the embers, glancing at Katie as she passed. She stopped long enough to tuck the blanket around her little girl before going over to the makeshift stove.

"Oh great," she muttered when she saw the flue had been knocked loose. She tried to fix it from inside the ship, but soon realized that wasn't going to work. She was going to have to go out to reattach it to the casing she and Jack had rigged.

Sam sat down next to the stove, wondering what she should do. Despite Jack's insistence that she stay inside, she and Katie could very well freeze to death if she let the fire go out, or die of smoke inhalation if she kept it going. Both scenarios were not an option as far as Sam was concerned. There's another way to do this, she reasoned. All she had to do was find it.

In the meantime, she needed to find a way to keep them warm. She dressed quickly, putting her jacket on as an added precaution. Katie was sitting up in her bed, watching Sam with wide eyes so Sam grabbed some dry clothes and dressed her with as many layers as she could find.

The idea came to her as she was feeding Katie her breakfast. She could light the fire and open the door slightly to let the smoke out, yet closed enough to keep most of the cold wind out. It should work. She could even route the stove pipe so that it fed out through the door. She fed Katie as quickly as she could so that she could get to work. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became to do it. It was definitely worth a try.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
Hunting for game was a past time that Jack usually enjoyed. He remembered hunting trips with his father and grandfather that always ended up with one of them bagging a trophy. He pulled the sled along the forest floor, satisfied that he was following the tradition. The dead boar tied down on the sled was a testament to that.

The sled was heavy, but Jack still managed to move at a quick pace, wanting to get back to Sam and Katie as soon as he could. Despite the desperate desire he had in getting away from that ship, he still hated to leave them alone. Those men he had seen prowling around the campsite could still be in the vicinity somewhere, which meant they were in danger even now.

The sled moved easily over the snow packed ground, even though it wasn't that deep. He pulled on the rope as his breath came out in plumes of steam when it hit the cold air, a cold that didn't stop the sweat from dripping down his neck and arms.

He continued to think of Sam as he walked. He was anxious to get back to her and the warmth of the ship. Memories of their life together over the past several months passed through his mind, prompting him to pick up the pace. They had settled into a comfortable routine of daily activities to keep them busy, although the last couple weeks were the hardest on Jack. Anger rose up in him as he remembered the arguments he and Sam fought when cabin fever set in for both of them. This opportunity to go hunting was more for him than for the food, and this thought shamed him even now.

He shook off that thought and set out to think of something more pleasant. The sled hit a rock in the path, causing it to almost tip over. Jack stopped long enough to set it right before taking off again, his thoughts back on Sam, only this time he found himself remembering the many nights wrapped up together in their bed, keeping each other warm the best way they knew how.

He grinned at the memory as he rounded a bend in the path he had made when he first came this way. She was an aggressive lover and Jack figured that woman was going to be the death of him yet.

He stopped suddenly as the hair on the back of his neck rose. He stared in fascinated horror at the woman who stood in his path, her blood-stained clothing stark against the whiteness of their surroundings. She stared at him with a worried expression, and Jack was reminded of the last time he saw her. He had thought she was trying to warn him then, maybe...

"Hello," he said.

She turned and walked away from him. Fear built up in Jack as he realized she was heading toward the ship. He stood still for a moment trying to rationalize his fears, but the woman was insistent. She stopped, turned back to him and stared at him, before turning to walk down the path.

"Sam," Jack said, his heart racing now. He dropped the rope and ran down the path the woman wanted him to go, knowing deep in his heart that this was the right thing to do. She only seemed to show up when he was in trouble, and this thought spurred him on.

He pulled out his gun as he ran, hoping that he wasn't too late. God, he didn't even want to consider losing Sam and Katie. They meant way too much to him.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
The fire blazed in the stove, Katie was settled in the little play area Sam and Jack made using crates and boxes as walls, while Sam worked on sanding down one of the chess pieces they'd made using bits of wood. She was anxious to get these things done. They had brought cards, but she once mentioned to Jack that she liked to play chess and he was all for it. They started carving the chess pieces the next day.

This particular piece was almost done. She sanded it carefully, trying to get into the tiniest cranny in the whole thing, but she was distracted by a noise that came from outside the door. Her heart sped up as she immediately thought of Jack. Her second thought brought her to a stop. What if those men finally came back?

Katie was standing up along one of the crates, bouncing up and down as she "talked" to whoever would listen to her. Sam turned back to stare at the door, finally deciding to get up to look.

She didn't make it to her destination. Two men burst into the room stopping her in mid stride. She stood there for a moment, desperately trying to think of a way out of this mess, then backed up a few steps when one of the men advanced toward her. She spared a few glances around, cursing the fact that she had become lax in the safety of the tel'tak. She didn't even have a gun handy. They kept the weapons locked up as a general precaution to safeguard the baby.

A third man came in, causing Sam to panic slightly. She could probably take on one, maybe even two, but she knew her limitations and taking on three men armed with knives and spears did not bode well. She kept her eye on the man who slowly walked toward her, gauging her chances on whether she could bring him down and grab the knife. The third man moved away from them, his intentions were clear. They were going to close in from all directions.

"Leave now and no one gets hurt," Sam said as she backed up again in a vain attempt to stay safe. She was on her own with no help in sight. She looked toward the door hoping that by some miracle Jack would show up, but Sam knew he could be miles away. "My friend will be back any minute."

They didn't respond, although the first man jumped at her, causing Sam to put her fists up in defense. He pushed her back, but Sam had already decided on her plan of action. She kicked up with her knee, catching him in the stomach and grabbed the knife at the same time. The other man came up behind her and pulled her by the hair. Sam whirled instinctively and rammed the knife into the first thing she came into contact with.

He uttered a low groan and dropped to his knees, then fell face first onto the floor. Sam didn't wait to see if he survived, she turned back to take care of the others. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw that one of the men had grabbed Katie, held her against his chest with one arm around her waist and a knife held up against her throat.

"No," Sam said, almost in a pleading voice. "Don't hurt her."

The man sneered at her, his eyes traveling down her body then back up to her face. Katie reached out for Sam, who wanted more than anything to go to her. She looked over at the other man to see that he stood next to his friend, watching her with a calculating look. They came for a reason, Sam realized. She stared at them both, hatred raging through her as she brought her hand up to grab the zipper of her jacket. She planned to stall as much as possible, hoping to give herself time to come up with a plan B. She briefly remembered Janet doing something similar when they had been locked up by the men on base, and the thought gave Sam the courage she needed to go through with it. She would do anything to save her baby.

The men egged her on, completely ignoring their comrade who was laid out on the floor, while one of them rubbed his fingers together in anticipation. She got the zipper free, then slowly shrugged out of the jacket.

The baby started to fuss and Sam recognized the signs. Katie wanted down. She wriggled and squirmed while uttering little sounds, which caused the man who was holding her to tighten his grip. Katie screeched at the mistreatment and Sam made to go to her to help.

The man pulled tighter, the blade inching a little closer to Katie's neck. "Okay, okay," Sam said with both hands palm outward to try to stop him from finishing the job. Katie was now screaming at the top of her lungs, her little legs flailing in the air as she squirmed to get free. Sam was terrified the man was going to end the struggling with a swift flash of the blade, so she reached up and began to unbutton her shirt in an effort to draw their attention back to her.

She took her time again, now that they were more interested in her actions, all the while listening to Katie's sobs as she wriggled and strained in the stranger's arms. Sam recognized him now that she had successfully slowed things down again. He was the one who attacked them in the woods. She loosened another button while she wondered if she'd be able to kick the first man to touch her in the balls and get away with it. The spear would make a great weapon she decided as she freed the next one.

The men were now watching her eagerly, but Sam continued to take her time, grateful now that she had dressed in layers to ward off the cold. She still had her t-shirt on when she got to the last button. The one with the spear, she decided again, as she reached up to grab the lapel on her left shoulder, pushing it slowly down her arm. She stared at him, hoping to entice him to go first. If she could get that spear, the other one didn't stand a chance.

Katie's scream dragged her attention back to the other guy. Blood dripped from a scratch on her little girl's neck, while rage built up in Sam. That son of a bitch was going to die, she decided. "Let her go," she snarled, anger pushing her to try to kill him where he stood. The other one grabbed her then and pulled her in front of him as he twirled around to face Jack, who had come storming into the ship.

She struggled to break free of the arm that was nearly strangling her then watched in horror as her captor's spear embedded itself into Jack's thigh. "Jack," she screamed as he went down, but he sat up again in almost an instant, shooting at both men before anyone could react. The man holding Katie dropped her when the first bullet hit, then fell backward when the second one found its target. Sam wasted no time in running over to Katie, stopping only long enough to gather the weapons on the floor. She kneeled down next to the baby, who had landed on her back, her mouth open with no sound coming out.

"Katie," Sam said, reaching down to pick her up. "Come on baby, please. Come on, breathe." Katie complied as she gasped and the air came out in a rush. Sam pulled her up, needing to go check on Jack but unwilling to leave Katie alone. Katie screamed in pain, causing Sam to stop to see what had happened.

"Oh God," she said when her searching fingers found what felt like a broken bone in the baby's arm. "It's okay," she soothed as she gently pulled Katie up to her chest. "It's okay." Katie continued to sob, while Sam turned toward Jack, grateful for his return, yet scared out of her mind at the sight of the spear still sticking out of his leg.

"How is she?" he asked between clenched teeth.

"Had the wind knocked out of her and I think her arm's broken." She stopped for a moment to sit down next to his legs then said, "She'll be okay."

"You sure?"

Sam nodded, her eyes now focused on the spear. "It's gone completely through," she told him quietly. He grunted at that bit of news, while Sam laid Katie down next to him. He tried to smile at the baby, who was still sobbing uncontrollably. "Shhh," Sam said quietly, while Jack reached over to put his hand on the baby's stomach. "It's all right sweetheart. Shh." Katie wasn't having any of it though, and she continued to cry as Sam finished up her preliminary run through of Jack's injury.

"Take care of Katie first," Jack said with the voice of authority that Sam knew so well. She smiled at the irony of the whole mess.

"Let's get this thing out of your leg first," she said, ignoring the stern look he gave her. "I'd like to make sure there aren't any more of those guys out there." Jack nodded at that, apparently agreeing to the wisdom of that statement. "But the spear comes out first."

"Oh God," he said with a resigned groan. "I remember the last time you took care of my leg."

"That one was broken," she said in her defense.

He rolled his eyes then lay back with another groan. "It's going to hurt, right?" Sam nodded, knowing it did no good to lie about it. "Same thing," he said with a sigh.

Sam didn't respond, mainly because she supposed he was right. She got up to go get the first aid kit, sidestepping the bodies as she went. Third order of business, she thought as poured some warm water into a bowl. Get rid of the bodies.

She brought the water, a clean rag and the first aid kit back to her patients, smiling down at them with fondness. Jack had pulled Katie up so that her head was on his arm and she was snuggled into his jacket, still sobbing, albeit a little more quietly.

Jack watched her warily as she kneeled down next to him. Sweat beaded his face and pain etched his features. Sam looked into his eyes for a moment, silently asking for permission to do this. She would give him that. He nodded then pulled his arm out from under the baby. "I don't want to accidentally hurt her," he said.

Sam nodded, then gently pulled Katie away. The baby whimpered, but Sam could see she was falling asleep. Good, she thought, as she turned back toward Jack. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad when she finally set the bone.

Jack, on the other hand, showed no signs of passing out. He watched her every move, making her nervous, even as determination pushed her to finish the job. "I'm going to try cut off the arrowhead," she said, her thoughts running rampant as she tied a tourniquet around his leg. He stared at her, his expression dead serious. Sam licked her lips to stave off the nervousness and said, "Then pull the shaft out." He closed his eyes at that, but nodded. Sam stared at the wound once more, debating the wisdom of what she was planning to do. She wasn't a medical doctor, and never claimed to be, yet here she was planning the best way to treat a patient. She shook off the fears and doubts then got up to go find the axe.

She came back to find Jack on his side, the injured leg twisted slightly to give her access to the shaft, as well as positioned to allow the least amount of damage. Sam braced her legs the way Jack had taught her when they chopped wood for the fire, then brought the axe down as hard as she could. The arrowhead broke free with the first swing, which pleased Sam immensely. But Jack's painful growl effectively brought her back to reality. She wasn't done yet.

"Get this over with Sam," he said angrily, his face pale and sweaty. "Just get this effing shit over with."

"I'm sorry," she said, desperately wishing she hadn't opened that door. He shook his head, but no words came out. Sam looked at the shaft of the spear still sticking out of his leg, then back at his face. He was so white, she thought as regrets poured through her. She hated to be the one to hurt him like this, even as she knew she had no choice. She wiped her face with the back of her hand as she straddled his leg then bent her knees and stooped down to get a firm grip on the spear. She looked back at his face once again, glad that he had chosen to stare up at the ceiling as he braced himself for the pain. Just do it, she thought, then tugged on the spear until it finally came free, deftly ignoring the grunts and groans coming from Jack's direction. She dropped to her knees and began the cleanup. He still wouldn't look at her, but Sam didn't care at that point. He grunted in pain again, even though she tried to be as gentle as possible. Talk to him, she thought as she remembered her first aid training. Get his mind off of the pain.

"Thank you, by the way, for coming to the rescue." Jack didn't say anything, so Sam kept going. "I have to admit that I thought you were too far away from us, but..." She shrugged as she tightened the tourniquet again. "You came. And I can't tell you how glad I was to see you."

"I was on my way back," Jack said through his pain. Sam smiled at him, glad that he was going to cooperate with her on this. She continued to clean up the blood as she listened to him talk. "I got a big one by the way."

"Yeah?" He nodded, which meant no more words, so Sam urged him on. "It's good you came when you did."

"I didn't." That statement defied reason, but he went on to clarify, "I was still at least a mile away when the woman showed up."

That got Sam's attention. She stopped what she was doing to look up at him, fear rising back up inside her. "The woman?"

"Yeah," he said quietly, "She just seemed to appear out of nowhere. Scared the heck out of me." Sam could relate to that. If it was the same woman...

"I could tell she wanted me to follow her... Ow! Watch that," he demanded, his face now a sickly shade of gray.

"Sorry," she said as she tried to be a little gentler. "Was she wearing a blood-stained outfit?" She asked the question in a nonchalant voice, but Jack apparently didn't even notice.

"Yes. Will you stop? Please just stop for a minute. Jeez!" She nodded and let go, watching as he lay back and took deep breaths to gain back control. Sam rinsed out the rag while she waited for him to get ready for the next round, her thoughts on the woman who seemed to be haunting them.

"I've seen her too," she said as she turned back to finish the job. "Let me just get some of this antibiotic cream on your leg so that I can bandage it." He nodded reluctantly, so Sam went back to work. "That's all. Then I'll leave you alone."

"Promise?" he said then groaned when she dabbed at the ointment on the wound.

"I promise," she told him with a smile.

"Okay. Yeah. Good." He was silent for a few moments, then said, "I think the woman is trying to protect us."

"Oh yeah?" This conversation was getting creepy, but Sam needed to know. Was the woman a ghost or what?

"Yeah," he said while Sam carefully smeared the ointment over the gaping wound on the back of his leg. "She only comes just before we're in trouble." He swallowed hard, then said, "She comes to warn us. She probably knows we're Katie's best bet for survival, and protecting us will keep her baby safe."

Sam stopped for a second, a feeling or relief rushing through as she realized she wasn't the only one who was going crazy. She pulled the bandage from the package and said, "I thought I was the only one who saw her," she said as she gently wrapped the bandage around his leg. "I recognized her right away, but I couldn't figure out what she wanted."

"You've seen her too?" Jack had come up on his elbows to look at her, and Sam nodded, her hands still busy with the bandage.

"It makes sense that she'd want to protect her baby. She survived a lot just to bring her to safety before she died." Sam tied off the bandage, then sat back to look at him. "That day at the river," she said hesitantly. "Was the second time she came to me."

Jack stared at her for a moment longer then laid back down and put his arm over his eyes. "You could have saved me from thinking I had lost my mind," he said in a surly tone.

"I wasn't sure what you were looking at," she told him quietly. "I thought I was the one going nuts." He shook his head at that, leaving Sam with nothing else to add to the subject. "All done," she told him as she cleaned up the mess she'd made. "I'm going to see what I can do for Katie, then get rid of those guys."

"I can help," Jack told her. "Help me up." She shook her head. This was so reminiscent of that time in Antarctica that Sam almost didn't argue with him. "Come on Sam, help me up."

"You need your rest," she said instead.

"I know, but I'd rather walk over to the bed than to roll." She stared at him suspiciously for a moment, but decided to give him a chance. They got him upright and Jack stood unsteadily on the uninjured leg, gingerly putting some weight on the other one. He cursed under his breath when he realized he wasn't going anywhere. Sam tried not to be too smug as she led him over to the bedroll they shared.

"Stay here and rest," she told him as he plopped down and glared at her. "Get some sleep while I take care of Katie and get things settled down in here."

"I left the sled about a mile from here," he said in a churlish voice. "Follow the path toward the ridge. The boar I shot is on it, but it's not too heavy." He reached up and tugged on her arm to pull her down next to him. He put his hand on her cheek and stared deeply into her eyes. "Be careful out there."

She smiled at the tenderness she saw in his eyes. It felt good to be loved like this. She leaned down and kissed him then smiled at him.

"I love you too, Jack O'Neill."

She went to take care of Katie, grinning broadly at the look on his face when she'd said that. It was worth it just to see that look.


	9. Chapter 9

Throbbing, aching pain woke Jack, bringing him back to reality. He groaned and opened his eyes, only to close them again when a shaft of pain stabbed at them. He gently opened them again, blinking against the bright light that shone directly on him. Sam was kneeling next to him, her expression wary and guarded, while a putrid smell next to his head told him that Katie was safe as well.

"Ugh," he said as he turned his head away from the god awful smell. "Are you going to change her, or were you waiting for me to do the honors?"

"I will in a minute," Sam responded, her expression now bearing a distinct guilty look. This didn't bode well, Jack thought, as he tried to sit up. He fell back for a moment as dizziness took over.

"Just relax," she said quietly. "I just want to finish up here, that's all."

He nodded, giving her the benefit of the doubt for a moment, then yelped when something stabbed at the wound in his leg. He tried to sit up again, while at the same time battling the overwhelming nausea that had moved in. "What are you doing?"

She looked up again with a decidedly nervous glance then went back to her task, apparently thinking to get it over with quickly. "Christ," he said when he saw the needle in her hand. "Stitches?"

"Yes," she said as she pulled the thread through his skin. "I found this in the first aid kit." She looked up at him, the guilty expression back in place. "I was hoping you'd sleep through the whole thing."

Jack was lost in a haze of understanding. He couldn't believe she would do this to him, although now that the haze was lifting a little, he could see why. He grimaced in pain when the needle pricked the tender and raw skin that surrounded the wound, then tried to pull the leg away when it came up through the other side of the wound.

"Hold still," Sam said as she stopped sewing long enough to grab the leg to immobilize it. He tried to comply, but it was difficult considering the torture she was putting him through. He exhaled heavily when the thread was pulled through once again, his face contorting as he stared up at the ceiling. Anger filled his soul, raging hot as she punched another hole in his leg with the needle. That shit hurt!

"I waited until you were asleep," she said. Jack didn't respond. It was probably a good thing she was doing this, but it irked him to no end that she was doing it anyway. "You were in so much pain." She stopped speaking for a moment, while Jack thought about retaliating for the agony by slapping her down. "The wound wouldn't stop bleeding," she went on, apparently unaware of the murderous thoughts raging through Jack's mind. "I was worried about infection and I thought sewing it up would be the best."

"You ever do this before," Jack asked in an effort to calm down. It wouldn't do to kill the woman he had come to care so much about.

"Well no," she said with a good deal of nervousness coming through loud and clear. She had a good reason to be worried, Jack thought as the needle pierced his skin again. "But there's a handy dandy leaflet in the kit that describes the basics."

"The basics," Jack said in amazement. Maybe he wouldn't get to kill her after all. She was going to get to him first.

"It's not that bad," she said again. "And I'm almost done. I've already finished up with the hole in the back of your leg." He nodded as he continued to stare up at the ceiling and grabbed onto the "almost done" with a fervor that had nothing to do with his struggle to keep from hurting her. He just wanted this over with.

"Why didn't you do this earlier?" he asked to keep his mind off of her handiwork.

Her fingers brushed against the wound in his leg as she did whatever she was doing down there. Jack turned his gaze to her and saw that his question had rattled her. She glanced nervously at him, then went back to tying off the thread.

"Sam?"

"You always make me feel so guilty whenever I have to patch you up," she said as she continued to work. Her tone turned sarcastic as she added, "I remember the last time you fixed up my leg." It was Jack's turn to look guilty as he remembered saying that to her earlier. She finished up what she was doing and sat back on her heels, giving him her complete attention. "It had to be done, Jack. I just waited until you were asleep so you wouldn't give me so much hassle."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't realize..."

"Don't worry about it," she said, as she gathered needles, thread and whatever came with the kit, then got up to toss it away.

"Sam," he said. She picked up the baby and stood over him with a questioning look. He stared at her for a moment, wondering if he screwed things up with her. "Thank you."

She smiled slightly and nodded. "You're welcome." She hitched Katie up on her hip then told him, "Just rest for awhile. I'm going to get this little one cleaned up." She turned off the portable lantern as she left. Jack heartily approved. They rarely used the lanterns, relying on candles and the fire during the night to illuminate their living quarters, saving the battery operated items for when they desperately needed them. He glared up at the ceiling with that thought. Too bad this ship didn't run on batteries.

The sound of Katie's tears chased away the what-could-have-beens and Jack struggled to sit up. He rested against the wall when he got situated, feeling more in control now that he could actually sit up. The pain in his leg had settled into a dull throb, which was much easier to live with, but it was the tranquil peace surrounding him that eased things up for him.

He smiled at Sam who was sitting on one of the ledges built in the ship's interior. She put a clean diaper on the baby as she sang in a low voice to calm her. Jack smiled through his pain at the sound of Katie's voice as she tried to sing along with Sam. God, how he loved them both at that moment.

Sam finally stood up, gently picking Katie up as she did so and turned toward him. She uttered an exasperated sigh then said, "You're supposed to be resting."

"I am," Jack told her with a grin, trying to show her he was okay. He was still in bed, albeit sitting up and he was leaning up against the wall to boot. What else did she want?

She shook her head and came over to sit down next to him with Katie in her lap. "Hi," he said when she was situated.

Her smile was like a soothing balm on his soul. She laid her head on his shoulder and they sat in silence for a few minutes. It felt good sitting here with Sam and Katie by his side. Almost like family.

A family he nearly lost.

"Sam," he said needing to apologize.

"Hmm?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but found that he couldn't. He looked down to see a pair of beautiful brown eyes staring back. He smiled at Katie, who reached for him with her good arm. He grabbed her fingers then found the courage to speak up.

"I'm sorry I left you and Katie alone," he said. "I shouldn't have done that."

"No," Sam said. "You were right."

Jack wasn't so sure about that. The memory of that guy jumping Sam when Jack burst into the door still scared him every time he thought about it. He almost lost her and that was something he couldn't accept.

"It won't happen again," he said with the hope that he was telling the truth. She snuggled up close while Katie decided she wanted her freedom. Sam let her go, helping her to stand while Jack watched. Katie stood there holding onto Sam's hand, her injured arm wrapped up in sling Sam had made with a towel.

"Nice job," Jack told her as he pointed to the baby's arm. .

"Yeah, well, this little girl puts you to shame in terms of making me feel guilty," Sam responded with a grimace. "You'd a thought I was trying to kill her the way she screamed when I set the arm." She leaned back against the wall and sighed. "I hate it that I hurt her like that."

Jack smiled then turned his head to look at her. "She's already forgiven you," he said. "You too made quite a pair singing over there." Sam grinned and ducked her head, but Jack saw the happiness in her eyes before she did so. He vowed right then and there that he would do whatever it took to keep her happy.

He and Sam played with the baby as she stood, her feet firmly planted on the floor between Sam's legs while Sam offered support by placing her hand on Katie's side. The baby's legs were getting stronger and Jack knew it wouldn't be long before they would be chasing her all over the tel'tak. He smiled at that thought. He liked being a part of a family again.

"What'd you do with the bodies," he asked as he tried to chase away the images of the men who had almost taken that family away from him.

"I loaded them on the sled and dumped them up on the ridge for the animals to find," Sam said with an angry snarl. "That sled really did come in handy, by the way."

"I know," Jack said with a smug smile. "Which just goes to show that I can come up with some ideas myself when I have to."

"A regular handyman," she teased. Of course, he thought with a grin. He reached over and put his arm around her shoulders, hugging her close and kissing her hair. Katie dropped to a sitting position when he'd pulled Sam into a hug and was now trying to stand up again by using the kneecap of Jack's bad leg to hold onto. Jack nearly screamed in pain as he pushed her off of him, causing Katie to plop back down on her butt. She sat there looking at him with pout that guaranteed she'd be wailing in a minute, but Jack didn't care at that point. He gritted his teeth as the pain in his leg throbbed uncontrollably, while Sam pulled Katie up to her chest for a hug.

"She's just a baby Jack. She didn't mean it."

"I know," Jack responded through his teeth. The pain let up a little, which was a good thing as far as he was concerned. He looked over to apologize to Katie, but she was already on her feet again holding on to Sam's hand for dear life and talking up a storm. "Ba ba ba ba," she gurgled happily.

He turned to Sam, glad the kid didn't hold a grudge. "So beautiful," he told her as he gazed into her eyes. Encouraged by the happiness he saw in them, he reached over to touch her face as Katie babbled on in the background. "I love you too, Samantha Carter," he told her just before he kissed her.

But the words came back to haunt him much later, not long after she got up to go make them something to eat. He did love her, despite the fact that he wasn't supposed to. And even though he'd already given up on that battle some time ago, he sat there with the nagging dread of the consequences they would face if they were ever rescued. Losing his family didn't bear thinking about because in all reality, if it came down to it, Jack wasn't so sure he could ever go through that again.


	10. Chapter 10

Jack left her again two days later. Sam had to take care of everything herself while he drifted in and out of delirium, ranting one minute then mumbling incoherent words the next. She did everything she could think of to keep him alive, but he seemed to fight her every step of the way. He'd throw off the blankets she piled on him when the cold sweats took over or pulled away from her whenever she tried to cool his brow with a damp wash rag. The fever that raged within him took him to the very depths of his soul, pitting him against the demons he talked about whenever they plagued his thoughts.

It was the dark places he talked about that scared her the most. She knew this man so well, having spent years under his command and as a friend, as well as the last few months as lovers. Yet she backed away when he snarled words of hatred and threats to the foes only he could see; mourned with him as he begged his son to live; and fought with him to keep him stable as he thrashed about in their makeshift bed.

Then there were the quiet times. Terror filled her heart every time he'd lapse into what appeared to be sleep. She put her fingers to his throat every single time, dreading the worst and sighing with relief when she felt his blood pulsing beneath the hot, fevered skin.

But Sam also took advantage of the quiet times. Between taking care of a seriously ill Jack and running after a very active baby, Sam barely stayed one step ahead of a breakdown. Constantly on the verge of exhaustion, she usually put Katie in her makeshift playpen while Sam grabbed whatever sleep she could get.

Catnaps were more like it. She rubbed her eyes and sat down on the floor next to Jack to try once more to force some soup down his throat. She managed to spoon a few sips through his parched lips, but he turned his head away and mumbled something in a soft voice. Sam sat back and sighed. "Come on Jack, please. Just a little more."

He didn't seem to hear her. She put the spoon back in the bowl and reached over to pull the blanket up to his shoulders, shrugging off the baby who had come up and was pulling on her shirt. Katie fell and knocked over the bowl, which proved to be the last straw.

"Oh great. Now look what you've done," Sam yelled, frustration and exhaustion taking their toll. "Why would you do that?" She stormed off to grab a towel to wipe up the mess, then bent down to mop up the liquid with angry swipes while taking her anger out on Katie. "Look at it," she shouted. "It's all over the place."

Katie sat on the floor with huge tears in her eyes and her lower lip stuck out in a pout. Sam stopped wiping up the mess as she stared at her baby while shame washed over her. "Oh honey," she said, now feeling like an ass. She threw down the towel and picked Katie up to pull her into a hug. "I am so sorry baby. I know it's not your fault." Katie clung tightly to Sam's neck as she rocked the baby from side to side, a fact that added on to Sam's guilt. "I'm just so tired," Sam said, needing to explain despite the fact that Katie didn't understand a word. She pulled back so that the baby was now facing her, and she wiped her eyes with her thumb as she said with a smile, "You okay?" Katie reached up to put her fingers in Sam's mouth again, and Sam pretended to bite down in a playful manner. "Mmm num num num," she said, her efforts bringing on a smile to Katie's face. Sam grinned back, kissed her then got up to put her down for a nap. Now that Jack was quiet and Katie ready for a nap, Sam looked forward to closing her own eyes - at least until Jack woke up shouting and cursing or Katie woke up screaming, whichever came first.

She laid Katie down on the floor in her playpen, covered her up and told her go to sleep. Katie immediately rolled over to sit up, which didn't surprise Sam in the least. "Go to sleep," she said, as she gently laid the baby back down. Katie stayed put, although her lower lip stuck out in a pout, a sign that warned Sam of the tears that were sure to follow.

Sam was too tired to fight with her. She just smoothed her hand over Katie's dark hair then left her in the safety of the play area. The towel was still on the floor where she'd left it and Sam got the mess cleaned up in no time flat.

She checked on Jack one more time to make sure he was still alive, then lay down on the other bed, intending to just rest her eyes until Katie went to sleep. A loud bang startled her awake, but she relaxed when she realized that Katie was making the racket. "Go sleepy, Katie," she said, unable to even open her eyes. Silence lulled her back into the arms of sleep and Sam went willingly.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
The stifling heat was unbearable. Jack threw off the covers and relished in the cool air that flowed over his body. He thought about getting up to check the fire, but decided against it. His limbs felt like lead and all he really wanted to do was sleep. He turned slightly to find Sam sleeping on her side with her back to him and one arm slung over Katie who was splayed out over one of the absorbent maintenance pads Sam used only when absolutely necessary. Exhausted and feeling strangely week, Jack turned so that he was curled up next to Sam and put his arm over her waist to pull her close.

He woke up again sometime later to find that Sam had gotten up and was sitting on the floor next to their bed and counting Katie's toes. "One, two, three," she said, pointing to each toe as she went.

"Hey," Jack said to get her attention.

Her head popped up as she turned to face him and her smile lit up her entire face. "Hey back at you. How are you feeling?"

"Okay," he said, although he felt like crap. "I guess I am a little thirsty."

"Great!" She came to sit next to him and put the back of her hand to his forehead, then to his face. "It's about time." She sat back, then said, "Welcome back."

Jack stared at her in confusion, wondering what that meant. "I've been gone?"

"You were out of it for four days, Jack. I was scared to death you were going to die on me."

She still wasn't making much sense, but Jack tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. He thought back to the night before, remembering her fussing over him because of a little fever, then of going to sleep. He pushed away the flashes of nightmares that haunted the memories, not willing to dwell on those images at all.

The fever, he realized with a startled look at Sam. That would explain the weakness he was experiencing, as well as the dryness in his mouth and throat. "I've been out of it?"

Sam nodded. "Four days."

He stared at her, noticing the dark circles under her eyes that belied the happiness in her expression. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," she said with a shake of her head. She set Katie down next to him. "I'll be right back. I'm going to get you something to drink."

Jack didn't argue. His mouth felt like the Sahara Desert, but he still felt guilty for putting her through that. She came back and sat down next to him as he drank greedily, the water soothing the rawness in his throat.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hands and said, "Thanks!"

"You're welcome."

Jack stared at her, trying desperately to come up with the right words to make up for all the trouble he put her through, but nothing came to him. She reached over and grabbed his hand, pulling it up to her mouth to kiss it. "You don't have to say anything, Jack." She smiled then, obviously enjoying the fact that she had surprised him with her words. "I'm just glad you're feeling better."

He nodded at her, totally at a loss for words. He wasn't so sure he liked that she knew him that well.

She gave him a secret smile then stood up. "I'm going to break into our special stash."

That announcement did the trick. Jack grinned at her and said, "You don't mean..."

"Yes," she said with a flourish. "I think we should celebrate your survival, and what better way to do it than with a meal of MRE macaroni and cheese!"

"But we were saving that for a special occasion," Jack told her with as much seriousness as he could muster, which wasn't easy considering the battle he had with the urge to laugh.

"This," Sam said with a brilliant smile, "Is our occasion!" She came over to give him a quick kiss then stood up to smile down at him.

Katie squeaked and Jack turned to her and said, "Oh girlfriend, you are in for a treat. No chicken that tastes like mac and cheese for us tonight. No siree! We're going to have us a genuine, real macaroni and cheese MRE." Katie babbled at him and Jack told her, "I know, I know. Exciting isn't it?" Sam laughed at him, making Jack feel much better.

They were going to make it, he decided. He and Sam and Katie were family now, and he'd make sure they survived for many, many years to come. He sobered at little as he thought about a possible rescue. He shook that off and smiled at his baby. He'll cross that bridge IF and when it comes down to it.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
Snow swirled over the ground and through the trees, heralding the news that winter was still in full bloom. Jack glared out the window at the mess. By all reckoning, at least by Earth's standards, flowers should be sprouting up by the dozens, blooming brightly in the spring sunshine. He put his feet up to brace them on the control panel and glowered as he stared out at the remnants of winter. Instead of spring flowers, they had snow. Lots of it.

"Getting antsy?"

Jack nodded. That was the understatement of the year. He leaned his head back and turned around a little until he could see Sam standing by the door. He turned back to glare at the snow as he asked, "Katie finally asleep?"

"Finally," Sam said with a relieved sigh. "That play area was the best idea we ever came up with."

Jack wholeheartedly agreed with that statement, but he felt obligated to tell her, "She'll be able to climb out of there soon enough."

"I know," Sam replied as she came up to sit in the other chair. "But until then," she put her hands up and spread her fingers in an outward motion, "Bliss!"

Jack grinned despite the grumpy mood. She definitely had a point there. The grin faded as he watched the snow swirl around outside the window. Spring couldn't arrive soon enough for him. Cabin fever had settled in and antsy didn't even come close to describing what he was feeling right then.

"Why don't we go out for a bit," Sam said. "Now that your leg is completely healed, we could maybe even make a trip to the river."

"Yeah," he said as anger rose up to consume him. It sounded like she was giving him permission to go out and play. He resisted the urge to tell her where to shove it and resorted to silence in order to keep the peace.

He rubbed his thigh absently, glad that he got off as well as he did. It had been months since that spear pierced it through, and although they had the necessary first aid supplies, Sam was no doctor. Jack was still amazed that it healed up as well as it did.

She was right about the river though, he thought, as silence built up around them. They were getting low on water, and despite all the white stuff just lying around ready for the taking, melted snow didn't yield much. It might do them all good to get out for a little while.

Yeah. The more he thought of it, the better it sounded. They would take extra ammo with them in case they ran across undesirables, but Jack highly doubted they would need it. They hadn't seen any other human since that day he'd almost lost Sam and Katie.

Jack was saved from dwelling on that incident when Sam said his name in a wary voice.

"Yeah?" She looked over at him and Jack could see she was debating with herself. He waited though, worried now about what she wanted to tell him.

She finally gave in and said, "I've been thinking."

"That's usually a good thing, Sam."

She looked over at him in surprise then shrugged her shoulders. "I think I may have found a way to fix the communicator so that we can send out the emergency beacon."

"What?" He straightened up a little and turned to look square at her. The emergency beacon was designed to send a signal to the SGC if there were any problems, and this was definitely one of those times. Sam shrugged again, which had Jack wondering what he was missing. "That's good news, isn't it?" he finally asked.

"In a way. The SGC would be able to find us... if they're still monitoring it, that is." Jack was well aware of the odds that the SGC was still monitoring a tel'tak that had gone missing for at least six months, if not more. Still, there was always a chance.

"But so could a mother ship that just happens to be cruising in the neighborhood," Sam said quietly. "We could be setting ourselves up for disaster."

"It might be worth the risk," Jack told her. Thoughts of what he would do first if he ever made it home flashed through his mind as he debated the wisdom of giving her the go-ahead.

Sam nodded, but he could tell she had misgivings. He tried to list all the pros and cons, while at the same time wondering if he had the right to put Sam and Katie in danger on the off-chance they could finally go home. The pros were outweighing the cons when Sam spoke up.

"Jack?" He looked over to her and waited. "Do you ever wonder what will happen to us if we're rescued?"

"Yeah," he said to her. "A long hot shower. The biggest bottle of ice cold beer I can find. Steak and potatoes... anything but MREs and boar meat, that's for sure." She laughed, but Jack had thought of something else. "I wonder if the Simpsons are still on?"

"A nice soft bed," Sam said with a dreamy look on her face. "Soaking in a hot bubble bath until my toes wrinkle up."

"Preferably with me in there with you," Jack said as he wiggled his eyebrows at her. "In both of them."

Sam lost the smile and Jack suddenly realized what she was worried about. He could relate to her worry now that he thought about it, but he still tried to make her feel better. "We'll find a way, Sam," he told her. "One way or the other, we'll make it work." A sudden thought occurred to him and he hurried on to say, "That is, of course, if that's what you want."

The smile returned to her face as she nodded. Relief flowed through Jack and he smiled back. He had already decided that they wouldn't go through with it if it meant losing Sam. He loved her way too much to give her up. But the thought of giving up that beer and steak was just as hard. He wanted it all.

"I'm going to formally adopt Katie," Sam said. "I already think of her as my daughter." Her expression turned thoughtful. "And I'm going to request a transfer out of gate travel. I can do practically the same thing I did before from my lab." Jack gave her an encouraging smile. He was happy with whatever made her happy. She looked away for a moment then turned to him. "That is, of course, if they even let me stay at the SGC."

"They will," Jack said with conviction. "They can't hold this against us Sam." Doubts crept up and tried to move in, but he refused to let them settle. "We've been here for months," he went on to say. "Almost a year. We just figured they'd given up on us."

"Think that will work?"

"I hope so."

She rolled her eyes and said, "Well that makes me feel so much better."

Jack grinned at her then said, "What?'

She just shook her head at him. Jack smirked, but his mind had already turned to more important matters.

"Can you fix it so that only the SGC will get the signal?"

"I can try to modulate the frequency, but..." She shrugged then said, "There are no guarantees."

Jack nodded then sighed. "Do it. It'll take several weeks for anyone to get to us, which will give us plenty of time to fortify the ship." His mind made up, he set about making plans to survive the consequences of his decision. "We'll head to the river tomorrow for water, restock the wood, drag in the rest of that meat and batten down the hatches for the long haul."

"Yes sir," Sam said, causing Jack to turn to look at her with a scowl. She gave him a lopsided grin then said, "Anything else, Colonel?"

"Very funny, Sam." She continued to smirk at him, while Jack went back to plan A. "We need to have an easier access to the guns," he said, his heart racing a little as he remembered the reason why they locked them up in the first place. "And the ammo too." She nodded at him with a sobering expression, apparently remembering the incident when she had laid down her gun for minute to do something. The gun was completely out of the baby's reach, but close enough for Jack to nearly have a heart attack at the very thought. He had bitched at Sam for a good twenty minutes as fear that she would even do something like that fueled his rage.

That's history now, he thought as he gave Sam an apologetic smile in an attempt to let her know he had forgiven her for that a long time ago. "We can do this Sam," he told her with confidence. She nodded in agreement, her eyes telling him that she had no doubts.

He turned to look back out the window, anticipation replacing his earlier feelings of doom. "We can do this," he said again. "We're going to be sitting in that hot tub before you know it."

"Bubble bath," Sam said in a determined tone.

"Yeah," Jack said with a wicked smile. "That too!"


	11. Chapter 11

Just as he did several months after they were first stranded, Jack gave up on any thoughts of rescue when winter melted into spring and two and a half months went by without a single sighting of anyone coming to rescue them.

Sam reminded him daily that it sometimes took weeks, even months to travel to a planet on a ship, but Jack could tell that she harbored her own doubts. They had pinned their hopes on a long shot that didn't come through.

They still kept up their guard, although Jack sometimes wondered if it was worth it. But spring had entered their world and he knew as well as Sam did that there was always the chance of running into more unsavory natives.

Fat chance of that happening, he thought as he dropped an armload of wood into the pile next to the tel'tak. He'd only seen a grand total of four people... well five, if he counted Katie, and one of those people came to them only because she was dying. Jack figured that if there were other natives running around, they were either too afraid to come into the forest, or too lazy. Judging by the characteristics of the three men they had tangled with, Jack figured it was probably a combination of both.

Still, it didn't hurt to be too careful. He went over to sit down next to Sam on a log near the fire pit, the strap that held his P-90 twisted around so that the gun hung down his back. Sam turned to smile at him and Jack marveled at how beautiful she was with sunlight filtering through the gaps between the leaves to illuminate her face. Katie squealed, bringing Jack's attention to his little girl. She had found one of the squirrels that roamed the woods and was chasing after it on toddling legs and the moccasins he'd made from the hide of a dead boar. Jack put his arm around Sam as he watched, ready to jump up at a moment's notice if Katie actually got too close to the animal.

"She's getting so big," Sam said with pride. "Look how beautiful she is."

Jack nodded in agreement. The sun highlighted her olive complexion, making it seem to glow, while her dark hair ruffled in the breeze. He smiled as he watched Katie wobble for a moment then drop down on her butt, a fact that didn't seem to faze her at all. She had to use both hands to get back up, but she was off to look at something else before anyone could react.

He turned to Sam and reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear, noticing once again how long it had grown. "As pretty as her mother," he told her.

She stared into his eyes for a moment, then turned to watch Katie again. "No," she told the baby while Jack got up to grab her before she put the stick into her mouth. He swung her up into his arms as he took the stick away, then swung her around to simulate flying, smiling at Sam when he brought Katie in for a landing.

"Don't put things like that in your mouth," she said when she took the baby into her arms. She looked up at him, but her expression turned to horror as she stared at something behind him and said, "Jack!"

He whirled around, his heart sinking when he saw Katie's mother standing by the tree line, her image stark against the dark colored bark that framed the edge of their tiny little clearing. The woman stared at them for a few moments then faded into the trees, leaving Jack standing there with a dawning understanding that trouble had come to visit after all.

"Take Katie into the ship," he demanded. He searched the trees for anything that would tell him what was heading their way. Nothing outwardly seemed wrong, but he pulled his gun around in preparation, his finger on the trigger as he backed slowly toward the tel'tak. He took one more look around then turned and ran to safety, making sure to lock the door behind him.

Sam had already set Katie down in the play area and was digging through the container they stored all their weapons and ammunition in. She grabbed her P-90, made sure it was loaded then reached in and pulled out a pistol which she handed to him as he passed by to head toward the control panel. The window afforded them a great view while they stayed safe and sound behind the reinforced glass, a fact that Jack immediately took advantage of. Sam came up to stand next to him and they stayed there for several minutes waiting and watching for the danger they both knew was headed their way. But it seemed they waited in vain, for nothing out of the ordinary jumped out at them. Other than a gust of wind blowing through the leaves on the trees, he and Sam appeared to be alone.

"Maybe she was giving us advance notice," Sam said quietly. Jack didn't respond. He just kept searching.

"Over there," Sam whispered. Jack had already seen them and knew it wouldn't do a bit of good, but he still felt like kicking something when two Jaffa stepped into the clearing and aimed their staff weapons at the ship.

It was worth the risk, he told himself firmly. They knew this could happen, but they had to take that risk. He watched as another Jaffa walked out to join the others.

"Any idea who they are?"

"Apophis," Sam told him. "I think that one over there is Heru'ur's Jaffa." She sounded as surprised as Jack felt. She looked back at Jack and said, "They probably joined the ranks of another Goa'uld."

"Yeah," Jack said as he continued to work out a workable scenario. "Maybe."

One of the Jaffa looked over to his left then gave a terse nod, apparently responding to a command. Jack felt like a sitting duck and he always hated that feeling.

"Is there some way we can hear what's being said out there?"

Sam shook her head, then said, "The door."

"Oh great," Jack muttered as he glared at her. She shrugged, but her attention was more on the activity outside than on him. Jack stared out the window for a moment debating on his options then nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice came over the speakers in the room.

"Jack? Sam? Is that you in there?" He and Sam exchanged shocked looks, while the voice said, "Colonel Bolton?"

"Daniel," Sam said, her voice now reflecting something akin to awe.

"No," Jack said. He looked out at the Jaffa, wondering if this was all a trick. As far as Jack knew, the SGC didn't employ Jaffa.

Well, except for Teal'c, that is.

A different voice blared out through the speakers, this time the words were spoken in Goa'uld. "That's it," he said, determined now to find out exactly what was going on. He strode over to the outer door of the tel'tak, intending to ease it open in order to find out for himself who was out there.

He waited until Sam was situated with her gun aimed at the door before he unlocked the mechanism and eased the door open a crack, got down on one knee and aimed his weapon as he waited for something to happen.

"Hello?" It was Daniel's voice again. Jack was sure of it. The man in question stepped out from behind a tree with both hands raised up into the air. Daniel looked back and shook his head, then stepped forward slowly. Teal'c stepped out into the clearing behind Daniel, his expression grave as he scouted out the area. Jack looked back at Sam, wondering if this was legit and he was being silly. She shrugged her shoulders, effectively leaving it up to him.

Daniel took another step and Jack pulled the trigger. "That's far enough," he yelled as the bullet hit the dirt in front of Daniel's feet.

Daniel jumped back a little, but then looked up with a smile on his face. "Jack!" he said with happiness. He turned to Teal'c and said, "I told you it was them." Teal'c bowed his head in agreement as Daniel dropped his hands and started forward. "Jack!"

Another bullet in the dirt, and Daniel stopped abruptly, the smile disappeared as confusion stepped in. "I said that was far enough," Jack snarled.

Daniel turned to look at Teal'c once more than he faced Jack head on. "Jack, come on. It's me Daniel."

"I figured that much out," Jack yelled back. He watched as two more Jaffa stepped out from the trees to join Daniel and Teal'c. "The question is, what are you doing here, Daniel?"

Daniel's expression turned to shocked amazement. "I'm here to rescue you guys," he said. "What do you think?"

That was so much like Daniel that Jack couldn't help but believe him. He turned his attention back to the Jaffa in order to bring himself back to reality.

"Since when does the SGC employ Jaffa?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at that while Daniel looked decidedly uncomfortable. Ah ha, Jack thought as anger filled his soul. He had been right.

"Well, they don't," Daniel told him. "In fact, there's a good possibility that I don't work for them either."

Okay, Jack thought with frustration. "Talk to me, Daniel," he demanded, suddenly tired of this whole thing. "What's with the Jaffa?"

Daniel stood for a moment, staring at the tel'tak. "You guys were gone a little over a month," he finally said, "Before they gave up on you and declared you all missing in action."

"A month," Sam said angrily. Jack could definitely relate. All that hope they wasted. Sam eased her position as she said with a resigned sigh, "We gave them three months."

"Teal'c and I tried everything to convince them to change their minds," Daniel said, "But even the President said it was a lost cause."

Jack didn't respond. He stared out at the group of people in the clearing as Daniel continued his story.

"They just wouldn't budge, so Teal'c and I decided to do this on our own." The uncomfortable attitude returned and Jack watched as Daniel glanced away for a moment before he finally spoke up again.

"We told the general that Teal'c wanted to quit and that there wasn't anything I could do to talk him out of it. The general fell for it and they had a great send off for him. When it came time to leave, Teal'c hid my backpack under his robes and we followed him into the Gate Room to send him off." Daniel looked down for a second, and when he looked up again, he was smiling. "Just before Teal'c walked through the wormhole, I ran for it. We've been recruiting Jaffa to help us out ever since."

"It did take some effort but we were able to procure a tel'tak much like the one you arrived in to begin the search," Teal'c said as he took over the story. "We followed your beacon although we were not sure if you were Goa'uld or our friends." He bowed his head, then said, "It pleases me that you are well, O'Neill."

Jack stood up but he didn't throw open the door. It all seemed to fit. Their explanations cleared up a lot for Jack, but the Jaffa with their weapons aimed at the tel'tak gave him pause. Could he really trust them not to shoot first and make sure later?

"They will not harm you O'Neill," Teal'c said as he took a step forward. "This I swear."

Jack took another moment to decide, but in the end, even though he didn't trust all Jaffa, he did trust Teal'c with his life. He put his foot on the door and pushed to open it all the way.

"Hey Jack," Daniel said with a huge smile on his face. Jack walked over to his friend, stopped for a moment then grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.

"I'm glad you didn't give up," Jack told him quietly. He pulled back and grabbed Daniel by the shoulders and said, "But what the hell took you guys so long?"

"I already told you," Daniel responded happily. Sam let go of Teal'c and pushed her way in to give Daniel a proper greeting. Jack stepped back to let her hug Daniel, while he turned to Teal'c.

"Thanks Teal'c. I owe you one."

His friend dipped his head once more. "It is my honor," he insisted.

"I'm glad you're here," Sam said as she came up to stand next to Jack. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you two."

"Ditto that," Jack jumped in to say. "I was beginning to think we were stranded here forever."

"We wouldn't let it come to that," Daniel said. He turned to look around, then asked, "Where's Colonel Bolton?"

Jack glanced over at Sam, who glanced back. "He didn't make it," Jack told them. "He didn't survive the crash."

"Oh," Daniel said, his expression now sad. "I'm sorry."

"We did everything we could," Jack said, "But it wasn't enough." He looked toward the graves then remembered his manners. "Hey. Come on in. We don't have much to offer, but you're welcome to it."

Jack followed them in as Sam led the way, suddenly worried about his friend's reactions when they found out about him and Sam. The faint sounds of Katie's screams filled the room as they entered, erupting into ear-splitting shrieks by the time Sam got the bulkhead door opened. That kid was mad, Jack realized as he grinned at the expression on Daniel's face.

"She's pissed," he clarified when Daniel gave him a questioning glance. "She hates being left alone in there." Sam came in carrying Katie and patting her back, while Jack said, "We only locked her up in there to protect her from you guys, but try telling HER that."

Katie's screams had died down to sobs by the time Sam handed her over to him. Jack grabbed the towel Sam offered and wiped the kid's nose before she decided to use his shirt. But she had noticed their company. She turned in Jack's arms to look at them then turned her face into his shirt when Daniel came up to say hi.

"She's shy," Jack said as he rubbed her back. Katie came back up to peek again then turned to Jack. She gave him a baleful expression, her eyes still wet with tears. "Hey, it wasn't me," he told her as he pulled her back in for a hug. "I had nothing to do with it."

He ignored Sam's glare as he set the baby on her feet, then turned to Daniel and Teal'c. "So when do we get out of here?"

*~*~*~*~*~*  
What to do with the tel'tak became a hot issue for the Jaffa and the humans. Half the Jaffa wanted to take it back with them to try to convert it into a vessel for the cause, while the other half thought it was a waste of time and energy considering they would have to tow it halfway across the galaxy. Sam was in agreement with Jack, who insisted that the tel'tak belonged to the humans which meant it should be returned to Earth.

She was also anxious to have another astrophysicist look at the crystals to see if they agreed with her initial suspicions of sabotage. She didn't bother telling anyone that though. The Jaffa already used their technology against them as they argued over the ownership. No use giving them more ammunition.

They ended up agreeing not to agree, but they still rigged a towline for the trip. Sam went in to pack up the necessities taking Katie with her to keep her out of the way. Jack and Daniel came to help after a bit, securing down as much as they could for the trip.

"Lucky for you had the tel'tak to live in," Daniel said, as he stood in the middle of the cargo bay. Sam had already rolled up the bedrolls, but she still felt a little awkward as she wondered how much Daniel knew, or guessed, about Sam and Jack's relationship over the past several months.

"You don't know the half of it," Jack said as he pushed the makeshift stove farther away from the door. "The winters are brutal here."

Sam shoved the last of maintenance absorbent pads into Colonel Bolton's bag, knowing she was going to need them. The diapers and Katie's clothes went in next. Sam looked around, trying to think what she was forgetting.

"Bring the sewing kit," Jack said as passed by her on the way to get his own bag. "That kid looks like she's growing out of those clothes already."

Sam gave a resigned sigh as she looked around to see what else. The first thing she was going to do when she got home was buy Katie some decent clothes. "And shoes," she said as Katie toddled over to the bag Sam was in the process of filling.

"What?"

Sam looked over to Daniel and shook her head. "Nothing," she said with a smile. She couldn't get over how happy she was to see him. He nodded then went to help Jack, leaving Sam to pull Katie away from her task of pulling everything back out of the bag.

They used the rings to transfer everything to the other tel'tak. Jack, Teal'c, Daniel and three Jaffa were busy securing the towline while Sam held Katie in her arms and surveyed their little campsite one last time. She couldn't wait to leave this place, yet this had been her home for almost a year. There were a lot of memories here.

Jack came up to stand next to her. "Ready?"

She nodded as she turned to him. He gave her a half grin then tilted his head toward the others as if to say, 'Let's go.'

Sam was ready. But as she turned, she saw Katie's mother standing near the trees. Fear filled Sam and she glanced over to Jack. He too had seen her and was already tensing up. Sam watched as the woman lifted her hand and held it up as if to say goodbye. This was such a complete turnaround that Sam had a hard time believing her own eyes.

Jack raised his hand to wave back, then said, "We'll keep her safe." He dropped the wave, leaned over to Sam and said, "I wonder how you say, go to the light in her language."

The woman faded back into the trees as Sam hugged Katie tightly in her arms. "I don't know, but I think she got the message."

"Who are you talking to?" Daniel asked.

Sam turned to him in surprise. "You didn't see her?"

"See who?" The confusion on Daniel's face prompted Sam to look at Jack in amazement. He shrugged with a look that told her to just leave it be.

"There was no one there," Teal'c said, as he too looked at them warily.

She gave up at that point. "It was nothing." She turned to Teal'c and smiled at him. "Let's go."


	12. Chapter 12

The trip to Chulak seemed to take forever, although Sam knew it was probably more like a couple weeks. Towing the tel'tak had slowed them considerably, a fact that prompted many reminders from the Jaffa who had argued against bringing it along in the first place.

Sam had long since learned to walk away whenever they complained, but there were many times she wished Teal'c and Daniel had found a mother ship instead of a tel'tac. Cramped conditions, no privacy and interacting continuously with Jaffa who apparently didn't like children wore her out and left her hating everyone she came in contact with - which happened to be just about every minute of the day. Sam just wished this trip was over.

"In a few days time," Teal'c told her when she'd asked. That was two days ago. Sam sighed as she once again debated over whether she should ask again. She looked over to Jack who was sitting on one of the ledges in the cargo bay, one leg pulled up as Katie played on the floor in front of him. He was staring at Sam, his expression dark, almost as if he was glaring. Sam knew that look, having seen it nearly every day during their forced confinement when the snow kept them from going outside. He was brooding and she knew better than to even try to talk to him when he was like this.

She got up to head into the flight deck, intending to see if there was anything she could do to help. Daniel came out just before she got there and said, "We have the SGC on the radio."

Sam picked up her pace, pushing past Daniel to see for herself. The voice over the radio said, "This is General Hammond of the SGC. Identify yourself."

"Yes," Sam said with a happy sigh. Jack came up to stand next to her with Katie in his arms, and Sam smiled broadly at him. The brooding look was gone, she noticed, as he grinned back at her.

"General Hammond," Teal'c said into the radio. "I am Teal'c of Chulak."

"Teal'c!" There was a moment of silence then, "I take it you found our missing persons?"

"We have," Teal'c announced solemnly. "Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter are here with us." He stopped for a moment then added, "It is with deep regret that I must inform you Colonel Bolton did not survive the crash landing."

More silence over the radio waves as Hammond processed that bit of information. "I'm sorry too," he said quietly.

"General Hammond," Teal'c said. "We are in orbit over Chulak." Elation washed over Sam with that news. Finally, she thought with a vengeance. "We request permission to return to Earth through the Stargate."

"It's about time Teal'c. I've been waiting for this from the moment you gave me your resignation."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow, while Daniel apparently went into shock. "Wait," he demanded into the radio. "You knew what we were planning?"

"Doctor Jackson," Hammond said with what sounded like amusement. "I have been putting up with SG-1 for well over five years now. I would have been very surprised if you _hadn't_ done this." Daniel stood there with an awed look on his face, while Sam shook her head with a grin. They didn't make that man a general for nothing, she thought.

"We never could pull the wool over your eyes sir," Jack said, his own smile lighting up his face. Good to hear your voice, by the way."

"Same hear," Hammond said. "Welcome home Colonel O'Neill."

"Thank you sir."

"You'll have to use Master Bra'tac's IDC," Hammond told them. "Come on home, SG-1. We'll leave the light on."

"Yes sir," Jack said as he grinned at Sam. "Thank you sir."

Sam looked out the window, excited beyond belief that her trip was almost over. "Home," she said as she stared at the stars in the distance.

"Steak and beer," Jack told her. She looked back at him in surprise then grinned wickedly.

"Long, hot showers and bubble baths," she said.

"Okay now, stop right there," Jack commanded. She smirked at his glare then leaned up against Teal'c's chair.

"Are we really almost there Teal'c?" She searched the stars outside the window, looking for anything that resembled a planet. "You have no idea how badly I want off this ship."

"You should be able to see the surface of Chulak within the hour, Major Carter," Teal'c said. "We will land soon after."

"Finally!" She came around the chair to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you," she said with gusto. She smiled at her friend, then went over and took Katie from Jack's arms. "If you're looking for me, I'll be over by the front door waiting for it to open so that I can get off this thing."

Jack nodded his head with an expression that said he could totally relate. She walked toward the other room and smiled as she heard Jack say, "I'll... I'm just going to go with her."

*~*~*~*~*~*  
The gate room was crowded when Sam walked out of the event horizon. Jack came up to stand next to her but Sam was more interested in the man who was walking toward her.

"General Hammond," she said, genuinely pleased to see the familiar face.

"Welcome home, Major," he said with a warm smile. He looked down at the baby in her arms, then back up at Sam then to Jack. "Who's this little one?"

"This is Katie," Jack said. "Her mother died on us and we've been taking care of her ever since." Hammond nodded his understanding, while Sam squirmed nervously.

"Sir," she said, wanting to make things plain right from the start. "I know this may be a little too soon to talk about this, but I've taken care of her for so long and would like to continue to..."

"Noted," Hammond said with a smile. "And we'll discuss this in more detail after you've been to the infirmary."

Sam nodded, then smiled at Janet Fraiser who had come up to greet them. "Sam! Welcome back!"

"Hey Janet," Sam said, genuinely glad to see her friend.

Janet turned to look at Katie and smiled. "Well hello there, sweetie." Katie immediately turned her face into Sam's shoulder and clung tightly to her neck. Sam gave Janet an apologetic look, but Janet didn't seem to mind. "Let's go get you guys checked out. You must be anxious to go home."

"Oh yeah," Jack told her. "In fact I think I'd better go now to see if it's still there."

"Infirmary, Colonel," Janet said sternly, although Sam saw the smile on her face. They both knew Jack was just kidding.

They walked to the infirmary while Janet assured Sam that Cassie was doing great. "Well, except the teenager part," Janet said as she glanced heavenward and shook her head. Sam grimaced at that thought. She and Cassie had always been so close. She hoped that her forced absence wouldn't make a difference in their relationship.

They got settled in while Janet and her nurses went to work. "Tapes," Jack said in a voice filled with an abnormal amount of appreciation. "And plastic diapers!" He looked up at Janet and said simply, "I love you."

Sam grinned while Janet shook her head with a mock glare. "Yeah? Well I hope you remember that when I have to give you a shot."

Jack grimaced then said, "Seriously Doc. You have no idea how hard it is to get a safety pin through folded up towels."

Sam nodded in wholehearted agreement to that bit of truth. "Not fun at all," she said as she looked down at Katie who was now trying to pull herself up, but having a hard time because of the mattress under her feet. She uttered a frustrated whimper while rubbing her nose, a sure sign that she was tired. "Come here, you," Sam said as she pulled Katie up to sit on her lap. She wrapped her arms around the baby and began to rock back and forth. Katie leaned back and tried to pull away, but Sam knew she'd give up in a minute. Sure enough, Katie rubbed her nose again and stared up at Sam, who rocked her back and forth as she said, "She'll be asleep in a few minutes. Do you have some place where I can lay her down?"

"Of course," Janet said. "They're bringing in a portable crib." She busied herself with checking Jack's chart, while Sam looked down at the baby in her arms. So beautiful, she thought as she watched Katie's eyes close then pop open in a fight against the sleepiness. Sam reached up to smooth away the frown lines on Katie's forehead, love for her baby overflowing in her heart. No way would she give her up, Sam thought with determination. She nodded at the nurse who brought her some pajamas for Katie to wear, then turned to look at her baby again. Katie had given up the fight and was sound asleep.

No way, Sam thought again as her fears lingered. She looked over to Jack and saw that he was watching her. He nodded grimly, an act that brought some peace to Sam.

Between the two of them, Katie was already as good as adopted.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
The debriefing went better than expected, Jack thought as he and Sam sat on either side of the General. They had detailed everything that happened to them on that planet, carefully avoiding any reference to their relationship. Jack even made sure to refer to her as Carter whenever he mentioned her in the course of those details.

The General seemed especially interested in her theories of sabotage and of the particulars surrounding the crash. Sam spent what seemed like hours describing in great detail the problems she encountered with the crystals, modulators and all the other terms that usually had Jack spacing out within a few minutes. This time was no exception. He sat back and watched Hammond, wondering how he could sit there and act like he understood every word. Jack had his suspicions as to the General's attention span, figuring the man just grabbed on to the words he could use and ignored the rest while at the same time pretending he was really interested in the how and why. It was an art form Jack wanted to master one of these days. Oh to hell with it, he thought as Carter brought up ion thrusters and something about propellants. He got by well enough by making her speak to him in plain layman's English.

"Bottom line, sir," she said. "Is that the tel'tak bore the marks of being tampered with before we left Earth. I'd like to have Major Brady and Sergeant Siler run an in-depth diagnostic scan to determine what exactly happened."

Hammond nodded, his expression thoughtful. "Teal'c is making plans to go back to Chulak to retrieve the tel'tak from the Jaffa. Colonel, I'd like you to accompany him to make sure the Jaffa understand our position on the ownership of that ship."

"Yes sir," Jack said, ready to get back into the swing of things despite having just returned from a forced confinement - or maybe because of it. "We had to tow it, sir. We'll need clearance to bring it into our airspace."

"You'll have it," Hammond said. "Major Carter."

"Sir?"

Hammond turned to her and smiled. "Your request for a transfer has been approved. You'll be working from your lab on base here."

"Thank you, sir," she said, her smile lighting up her entire face.

"Formally adopting the baby is not going to be as easy as the transfer," he said, his expression now grave. Sam lost the smile and glanced over at Jack, who tried to convey his faith in the system, even though he had his own doubts. "Doctor Fraiser should be able to help you in speeding up the red tape," Hammond went on to say. "Just remember how long it took her to finalize things."

"Yes sir," Sam said. "She's been giving me pointers and has already typed up a letter of recommendation for me."

Hammond smiled at that. "I know," he said. "She gave it to me this morning. It's in the file." His smile dimmed as he said, "I know how important this is to you, Major. Just remember that it won't happen overnight."

"Thank you sir," Sam said.

The General stood up prompting both Jack and Sam to do the same. He turned to Jack, giving him an apologetic smile. "Teal'c tells me that he would like to leave tomorrow. I know you just got back..."

"No problem sir," Jack hurried to tell him. "I'll be ready."

"Good," Hammond said as he turned to walk toward his office. Jack looked over at Sam, suddenly realizing that they were alone for the first time since they left that planet. They stood there in an awkward silence until Sam finally spoke up.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"I don't know. For everything."

Jack nodded, unsure what he should say to that, especially since he really didn't do anything. They stood there on either side of the table, staring at each other while Jack wished things were different.

"So you're going to Chulak," Sam said.

"And you'll be in your lab."

She nodded, the silence building up again. Jack hated that it had come to this.

"I miss you, Sam."

She looked so sad, Jack thought. "I miss you too," she said after a moment.

"So," Jack said to break the silence that was building up again. "Now that you are off my team, you want to go out to, you know, have dinner with me?"

She seemed shocked at first, then smiled. "You mean like a date?"

"Yeah. You, me and Katie. I know this great place that serves the best breadsticks, Katie will love them. And we'll get her some real mac and cheese." He shook his head in mock wonder. "She'll think she's found kiddie heaven."

Sam laughed, her smile lingering as she stared at him. She finally nodded her head, as she told him, "Sure. Why not? And then maybe afterward we can go to my house to see how much dust has collected on the furniture."

"I _have_ been looking forward to that bubble bath you mentioned," Jack said, his voice low and seductive.

She didn't respond, just gave him a saucy 'we'll see' look and said, "I get off at 6."

Jack sent her a wicked smile as she turned to walk away. "Yeah, well what a coincidence," he told her retreating back. "So do I."


	13. Chapter 13

It took several days of arguing with a group of stubborn Jaffa before SG-1, or what was left of the team, finally acquired the damaged tel'tak. Jack was nearly at the end of his rope by the time the terms were worked out. And that was the kicker of the whole issue. The tel'tak belonged to the SGC in the first place. Having to fight for something that rightfully belonged to them only added fuel to the injustice of the whole thing.

Of course, as a wise Jaffa made sure to point out, the tel'tak was already stolen property by the time the SGC acquired it, but Jack figured that was beside the point. He was taking the ship back to Earth no matter what.

The Jaffa finally gave in, but only because it would take years to rebuild the ship to the point where it would fly again. SG-1 then had to waste another day for Teal'c to bargain for the use of a working tel'tak to tow the damaged one. Jack's frustrations were worn thin by the time they actually left Chulak and headed back toward Earth.

It didn't help that he spent the majority of the time between meetings thinking about Sam and Katie. After nearly a year of being with them on a constant basis, it was hard being away for so long. He sat down next to Teal'c in the cargo bay and wondered what his ladies were up to at that moment. He and Sam had cemented their relationship when he ended up staying the night at her house their first day back. They talked for hours, making plans for the future as well as the best way to break the news to Hammond. Jack smiled as he remembered how they had put Sam's bed to good use in between making those plans. At his age, making love in a bed was way better than on the ground in a bedroll. Not that he was complaining too much.

Daniel came to join them, wiping his hands on his pants as he sat down next to Jack. "That box full of _artifacts_ turned out to be statues of System Lords that had been made out of a substance that resembles plaster," he said with a good deal of disgust in his voice.

"Souvenirs?" It defied reason, but Jack figured he'd ask anyway. "Who'd want a statue of a System Lord?"

"They were popular with the children," Teal'c told them. "My son was told by an elder that the statue of Apophis would protect him until he was ready to show his worth in battle."

"And you believed that?"

Teal'c looked over at him for a moment, then turned to look at something in the distance. "It was not wise at the time to profess any other belief, O'Neill."

Jack had to give him that. "You do have a point there." Teal'c apparently didn't have anything to say to that and the three men sat in silence. Jack's thoughts immediately focused on the new love of his life. He was headed home for what he knew would be at least a week's worth of downtime, maybe longer. Hammond promised him the vacation so that he could take time to clean up his affairs after being away from home for so long. Jack was grateful he'd had enough in his savings to cover the automatic payments during his absence, but he still needed to take care of little things, like clean out a year's worth of dust and try to tame the yard that now looked like a jungle. But more importantly, Jack planned to spend some quality time with Sam and Katie, that is, of course, if Sam can pry herself away from the mystery of the damaged tel'tak. Jack knew her too well to think she would leave that up to someone else. No. Sam Carter would be knee deep in the middle of the diagnostics to try to figure out how the ship was sabotaged and who did it.

He sighed, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards. "I'm bored," he announced. `"Anyone up for a game of poker?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at that, while Daniel showed some interest. Jack rifled the cards as he got ready to shuffle. It didn't matter who played, as long as he had something to do. They still had a long way to go and he figured he might as well make the best of it.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
The sight of two tel'taks flying in formation through Earth's airspace caused an uproar that was heard loud and clear in the SGC Command Center. Hammond received two phone calls within minutes of each other, and Sam listened as he reminded both callers that he had already cleared this with everyone from the President to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He hung up the phone with an aggravated shake of his head.

"A classic case of the right hand not knowing what the left is up to."

Sam nodded, but didn't respond. She stood next to General Hammond in the Control Room, anxious and worried. She knew that Jack, Teal'c and Daniel should be in the lead ship, but they hadn't received any communication whatsoever and she couldn't help but worry that something had gone wrong.

Hammond apparently felt the same way. "Try to reach them again," he demanded.

"Yes sir," Sergeant Harriman said as he opened the comm in response to the order. Sam stared at the monitor, waiting impatiently and hoping to see for herself that Jack and her old teammates were alive and well.

The response, when it finally came through, brought relief. Jack's voice was music to her ears. She listened as he and Hammond made the arrangements to bring in the tel'tak, while her thoughts drifted off to the plans she'd made for Jack when he got home. Sam stared at the monitor that showed the ships flying through the Colorado skies, her mind now sorting through the diagnostic tests and work logs she and Siler would be working on over the next few days to see if her suspicions of sabotage were correct.

"We'll have a team waiting for you when you land," Hammond said. "Bring it home, Colonel."

"Yes sir," Jack said. Sam wished she could see his face, needing to see for herself that he was okay, but she'd see him up close and personal soon. She smiled at that thought. She'd missed him so much.

"General Hammond sir," she said with as much reserve as she could manage, "I'd like to be there when they arrive. Sergeant Siler and I can be ready to leave as soon as you..."

"Go ahead," the General said, He turned back to the window and seemed to be staring at the Stargate, his expression grave and intense. He looked so lost, she thought, as she wondered what he could be thinking. She didn't ask though. She gave a curt nod instead and turned to leave, her thoughts focused on the fact that she couldn't wait to see Jack again.

"Sir!"

Sam turned back at the urgency in the Sergeant's voice. He was staring at the monitors and fear built up in Sam as she watched two American fighter jets fire on the tel'taks. "Oh my God," she said in horror. "General?"

"What the hell?" Hammond said, his voice reflecting shocked amazement. He grabbed the phone and immediately shouted orders into it while Sam joined Harriman at the controls, her fingers pushing buttons and keys trying desperately to find a way to stop the attack.

"General Hammond," Jack shouted through the radio. "What the hell's going on?"

Static came from the radio, then Daniel's voice shouting, "Call them off!"

Sam spared a glance at the monitor and saw the first tel'tak bank to the left, the damaged one trailing behind. The jets followed suit, but pulled back in formation. "We're working on it," she told her friends just as one of the jets fired on the tel'taks again. The damaged ship seemed to be the target, she noticed, which didn't make sense. Their sensors should have picked up that the second one was empty.

"What's going on, Carter," Jack asked, just as the fighter jets pulled back completely. Hammond hung up the phone and came to stand next to her chair, anger coming off him in waves.

"The President and his people have no idea who authorized the attack," he said. "But they're working on it." The last was said with a touch of sarcasm, which Sam could relate to. "The jets are going to escort you in Colonel. It should be smooth sailing the rest of the way."

Smooth sailing, Sam thought as she waited for her heart to calm down. If only things could be that simple.

She met Jack, Teal'c and Daniel at the landing pad, hugging each one although the hug she shared with Jack lasted a little longer as he whispered her name into her neck, sending shivers down her spine. She finally pulled back from the hug and smiled, so happy to see him again. They couldn't spend too much time together, but Sam knew they'd have all night to say their hellos, and for the moment she was content to let him go.

She spent the rest of the day running every test imaginable on the tel'tak. The results revealed her initial suspicions were correct, and once they compared the logs that all technicians are required to update on an hourly basis, they even had a good idea who the culprits were. She reported her findings to General Hammond, who then informed her that the attacks on the tel'taks were premeditated. The pilots followed orders based on a fake intelligence report that the damaged tel'tak was carrying a bomb set to explode over Colorado Springs.

"Apparently, someone out there wanted to make sure we didn't find out what caused that tel'tak to crash land," the General said. He was silent for a moment, then said, "We're going to get them." Sam was surprised at the anger in his voice, but then understood when he added, "A good man died because of their efforts."

"Yes sir," she said sadly as memories of Bolton's death replayed in her head. His death will be avenged. She'd make sure of it. "I'm on my way back, sir. I'd like to be on the team that arrests them, if I may."

"So does Colonel O'Neill," Hammond said, his tone matter of fact. "But I think the SFs can handle this one. You can be in on the interrogations tomorrow."

"Yes sir," Sam said as she tried to hide her disappointment. She ended the call as she made preparations to head back to the SGC. At least she'll be able to spend time with Jack, she thought with a sigh. Her mood brightened a little at that thought. Steak, she decided as she walked out to the staff car, and a nice salad, and a few beers to wash it all down with. She smiled as she remembered the conversation she and Jack had when they talked about what they would do when they got back home to Earth. She got in the car and stared out the window, wondering if she still had enough of the bubble bath beads left.

*~*~*~*~*~*  
Jack sat back from the table with a full stomach, and watched as Katie banged her spoon on the tray of her highchair. He took a drink of his beer then lowered the bottle slowly when his eyes met Sam's. He grinned at the desire he saw in the depths of her eyes, mainly because he was sure the desire matched his own. They stared at each other until a blob of food landed square on Jack's shirt, causing him and Sam both to jump back. Sam chuckled, while Jack grinned at the culprit, knowing she was still learning to feed herself.

"No sweetie," Sam said as she reached over to show Katie one more time how to hold the spoon. Jack smiled at his ladies as he watched Katie try a few times, then gave up and reached for the sippy cup. Sam shook her head in bemusement as she turned to smile at Jack again.

God, how he loved that smile. His heart lurched and he knew that this is what he wanted. He stared at his little family and decided right then and there that he'd move heaven and earth to make things work out between them. He stared into Sam's eyes, loving the way she made him feel.

"Will you marry me?" he said before he even realized he was going to say it. She looked at him in surprise, her expression changing to worry. Jack waited, wishing now that he had waited until they were both ready, but Sam smiled at him and reached across the table to take his hand in hers.

"Yes," she said as she rubbed her hand over his. She looked up into his eyes, love clearly shining out of hers and said, "Yes."

"Yes?" He wasn't sure what to make of her changing expressions, but it sounded like he was going to get his way, so he grinned back.

Her smile grew wider as she nodded and said, "Yes. I'll marry you."

He got up and went over to her, pulling her up until she was plastered to his chest. "We'd better do this right then," he said as he smoothed the hair above her ear and pulled her in for a kiss. He kissed her deeply then pulled back. "Yes?"

She laughed and nodded, kissing him again to answer his question. Katie babbled something, causing Jack to pull away from his beloved. He looked down at the kid who was apparently pleased with the conversation because she was back to banging her spoon on the tray and babbling happily.

"I take it you give us your blessing, don't you you little munchkin," he said as he ruffled her dark hair. Katie babbled again, while Sam took her out of the chair and set her down on the floor. Katie immediately toddled over to the other room, her stride less wobbly than it was when they lived on that planet. Jack watched her until she was out of sight, then turned to Sam and gave her an injured look.

"I suppose we'll have to wait until she goes to bed to finish this?"

Sam nodded reluctantly, but Jack grabbed her and kissed her anyway. "Let me go grab the kid and bring her in here and I'll help you clean this up."

"I'll be fine," she said. "Go spend some time with her before I put her to bed."

"Then it's our turn," Jack said with a wicked grin.

"Oh yeah," she said with another kiss. Jack left her then and went in to grab Katie, sitting on the couch while she brought him a block. He took it while she went to get another, and he played with her for awhile until Sam came in to join them.

Nice family time, he thought, as faint memories of another family flashed across his mind. He'd take care of this one, he promised himself. Nothing was going to happen to them, he'd make sure of it.

He helped Sam give Katie a bath, marveled at the tapes on the diapers and sat with them both as Sam read a story to the baby as she lay in her crib. Creature comforts they didn't have when they struggled to survive in the wilderness, and yet they had survived without those luxuries.

It was a sobering moment for Jack, a moment that was interrupted when Sam got up and led him out of the baby's room. He stopped her in the hallway and pushed her up against the wall, too eager to touch her again to wait until they made it to her bedroom. He kissed her passionately, their hands roaming over each other until he pulled away and dragged her off to her bed, deciding that the bed was another luxury he planned to take advantage of.

"I love you," she told him as they both lay panting in the aftermath.

Jack nodded then turned to look at her. "I love you too, Samantha Carter." She smiled at that and got up so that she could use his chest for a pillow. Jack ran his hand over her hair as he thought about the circumstances that brought them to this point. He hated that Bolton had to die because of it, but Jack was glad they were stranded in that place for so long. He never would have realized what Sam meant to him if they hadn't been forced to rely on each other for companionship.

He smiled in the dark. Living on the edge had always been the way of life for him. Despite the dangers, he always seemed to come out better for it. He pulled Sam up to kiss her again, holding her tightly as he realized he had won again. This was the life he wanted to live.


End file.
